Year: 2019

Pleading and Begging

And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them.
Mark 5:17‭-‬20 NLT

Every man and woman will encounter Jesus in their lives. The “intellectual” man might try to immediately dismiss such a statement, saying things like “but what about…”.

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
Romans 1:20 NLT

He is “visible”, even though His qualities in and of themselves may be “invisible”.

You know that the wind exists as a phenomenon, not because you can see it or hold it, but because you can see the visible evidence of its influence.

You will encounter Jesus today, maybe even right now.

Will you plead with him to go away and leave you alone?

Or will you beg him for the opportunity to walk together?

And you who call yourself “Christian” during your once a week gatherings — when you face the opportunity TODAY to share in His sufferings, to proclaim the gospel boldly, to trust Him in the middle of the storm, to turn away from temptationand run to Him — will you beg to walk with Him, or will you plead to just be left alone to be with what you truly love and desire most?

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You who ask, “What do I do? What can I say? How can I respond?”

I tell you, “Repent and believe!”

That means, turn away from your old waysand turn to Christ!

Take joy in the fact that you have heard the call, that you have heard the Truth, that you have seen the Way, that you have encountered the Christ today.

Ask Him to forgive you, to change you, to save you from yourself, to come and be your Teacher. Seek Him out in The Word of God, speak to Him in prayer andask Him to write His Word and His willupon your heart. Go out and tell the world of what He has done for you today, and seek others who can’t help but tell of His mercy and live and kindness as well. Learn to know Him and to know The Way, and don’t depart from it, but if you stumble, come back to Him, because He is faithful to forgive.

‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.’
Numbers 6:24‭-‬26 NLT

Bring What Is Required

A father had four sons, who owned four businesses. He had helped them all start their businesses with a loan, and after 20 years, they were to repay him the original $5000 he had invested. The day came for them all to meet so that the father could put the funds back into his own account — as he was preparing to retire, and would have needed of the funds now that he was going to be on a fixed income.

One son had started a liquor store that profited nicely over the years, and he brought with him $5000 in cash from the cash register for that week’s take.

Another son had started a payday loan business that had profited wonderfully over the years, and he brought with him certified bonds that could be redeemed immediately for $5000 or for more once they mature in several years.

Yet another son had started a restaurant that had profited reasonably over the years, but the restaurant had recently caught fire and burned to the ground. He found himself in a situation where he could not rebuild and also repay his father, so he brought a check for $5000 that he knew would clear if his father chose to deposit it.

The last son had opened a nursing home and rehabilitation facility that he loved and maintained at the highest levels of care, but where he just couldn’t maintain a steady profit for himself because he was always overextending himself to either help out his employees or improve upon the facilities. He found himself without $5000 in his account to pay when the day came, so he arranged with the local bank to pre-approve a loan for $5000 and he offered his father the choice of either the $5000 that he would repay to the bank in time or to come and live in his facility at no cost for the rest of his life.

Some of the brothers grumbled against each other, about the life choices each had made, about the way in which the others had chosen to pay their father back, etc.

But the father simply loved them for loving him and for respecting him and their agreement. He appreciated each of them for their gifts and talents and abilities, and for their imperfections and challenges and successes they each have in their lives.

———-

My morning reading was from Numbers 7, where each tribe brought exactly the portion expected of them. There was no accounting for the different population sizes of each tribe, no accounting of the backstory concerning how each came up with what was expected — just an accounting that each tribe brought exactly what was expected.

It would have been just as wrong hearted for a tribe to make a show of bringing more than the others out of their abundance as it would have been for a tribe to show up shorthanded out of their laziness.

In a world that thrives on comparison and expectations and pride and shame — where we expect each other to live up to “our own standards” and we easily fall into offense over others “not hitting the mark” or “slighting us in some way” — it can be quite earth shattering to considerall of this in the light of God’s “requirements”.

Are you “Bringing what is required?”

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8 NLT

They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?” Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
John 6:28‭-‬29 NLT

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“Believe”.

And if you believe, you will love.

And if you love, you will not doin against God and you wel not sin against each other.

So if you are sinning, go back to the beginning and “Believe”.

So if you are not loving, go back to the beginning and “Believe”.

——————

Do you believe?

Do you love?

Provide for your family, help your neighbor, pray for your enemy.

But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.
1 Timothy 5:8 NLT

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 5:43‭-‬48 NLT

Their Benefit Comes in Their Destruction

A farmer has some animals that are close pets that are close and personal to him and his family. Also, he has others that help him work the farm. But it is the animals who are given limitless food, who are allowed to be lazy, and who never actually toil or labor for the farm during their lives that are the ones intended for slaughter. Their use is not for their relationship or their work — their benefit to the farm comes in their destruction.

—————-

Close relationship is a true blessing.
The ability and opportunity to work hard is a blessing.
Comfort and ease may not be the blessing they initially appear to be.
Grumbling about others who seem lazy and fat and comfortable is short sighted.

Appreciate your purpose.
Don’t waste your purpose just to be slaughtered.

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Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. Your gold and silver are corroded. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment. For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you.
James 5:1‭-‬6 NLT

Lord , you always give me justice when I bring a case before you. So let me bring you this complaint: Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil people so happy? You have planted them, and they have taken root and prospered. Your name is on their lips, but you are far from their hearts. But as for me, Lord , you know my heart. You see me and test my thoughts. Drag these people away like sheep to be butchered! Set them aside to be slaughtered! How long must this land mourn? Even the grass in the fields has withered. The wild animals and birds have disappeared because of the evil in the land. For the people have said, “The Lord doesn’t see what’s ahead for us!” “If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses? If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan? Even your brothers, members of your own family, have turned against you. They plot and raise complaints against you. Do not trust them, no matter how pleasantly they speak. “I have abandoned my people, my special possession. I have surrendered my dearest ones to their enemies. My chosen people have roared at me like a lion of the forest, so I have treated them with contempt. My chosen people act like speckled vultures, but they themselves are surrounded by vultures. Bring on the wild animals to pick their corpses clean! “Many rulers have ravaged my vineyard, trampling down the vines and turning all its beauty into a barren wilderness. They have made it an empty wasteland; I hear its mournful cry. The whole land is desolate, and no one even cares. On all the bare hilltops, destroying armies can be seen. The sword of the Lord devours people from one end of the nation to the other. No one will escape! My people have planted wheat but are harvesting thorns. They have worn themselves out, but it has done them no good. They will harvest a crop of shame because of the fierce anger of the Lord .” Now this is what the Lord says: “I will uproot from their land all the evil nations reaching out for the possession I gave my people Israel. And I will uproot Judah from among them. But afterward I will return and have compassion on all of them. I will bring them home to their own lands again, each nation to its own possession. And if these nations truly learn the ways of my people, and if they learn to swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’ (just as they taught my people to swear by the name of Baal), then they will be given a place among my people. But any nation who refuses to obey me will be uprooted and destroyed. I, the Lord , have spoken!”
Jeremiah 12:1‭-‬17 NLT

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements. God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession. Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
James 1:2‭-‬25 NLT