Bible Lessons

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Great Expectations!

“He has shown you, O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  Micah 6:8

What do they expect from me?

We often ask this question for one of two reasons.  The first is because we don’t know the expectations.  There is confusion and no clear direction given as to what we ought to be doing.  The second way we use this question, with a little different emphasis in the wording, is when we feel the expectations placed on us are too great.

Not only do we use this question in our interaction with others, we use it in response to God.  Many times people are confused and just do not know what God expects from them  Usually this is because they don’t really know God.  The personal relationship with God has not been developed and nurtured.  We also use this question with God when we think He expects too much.

We don’t see ourselves as God sees us.  We see a God-sized task and decide we could never be a part of it.  In our mind we have limited the power of God when we say, “God could never do that through me.”  When God says through the prophet Micah that the requirement is that we would act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God, He defines what He expects and lets us know that it can be done.

How are you doing with the “great expectations” God has for your life?  Our lives often revolve around the expectations of someone . . . parents . . . spouse . . . boss . . . friends . . . children . . . our church . . . self . . . co-workers . . . or any combination of a variety of people.  Isn’t it time to center your life so that it revolves around the expectations of God?

May you and I live up to the great expectations that God has for us!

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It’s Not My Fault!

Who’s to blame?  When something goes wrong, we are often quick to try to avoid any responsibility.  I remember my grade school years.  I was not very coordinated and often paid little attention to what was going on around me.  Therefore, I was constantly splitting my head open or injuring myself in some way.  Yet I also remember not wanting to admit these injuries were my fault, so I blamed other kids for my mishaps.  Fortunately, my parents would get to the facts of the situation and hold me accountable for my own actions.

This avoiding responsibility was not a new problem begun by me.  From the beginning of time, mankind has been saying, “It’s not my fault!”  God came to Adam, and Adam said, “It’s not my fault.  It’s the woman that you gave me.”  Eve says, “It’s not my fault.  It’s the serpent that you created.”  From that point on, our sinful desires have been screaming out, “It’s not my fault!”

Typically parents have shouldered a great amount of the task of teaching children to take responsibility for their actions.  I grew up under the two for one plan.  If I got in trouble once at school, I received a bonus and was in trouble a second time when I got home.  This philosophy changed greatly during my generation.  Now we often see a child in trouble at school for something they have done, yet when they get home the story is different.  The child is not in further trouble, the teacher is in trouble for trying to correct the student.

This reminds me so much of the verse at the end of the book of Judges that states, “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”  What ever happened to the cry, “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner!”  “I was wrong.”  “I have sinned.”  Our society shows us a very vivid picture of the trouble that erupts when individuals cry out, “It’s not my fault!”

As Christians, as a body of believers, as individuals, may we take responsibility for our actions and repent when we do wrong.

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Living Large!

“Would you like that super-sized, up-sized, mega-sized, or king-sized?”  If you go to fast food restaurants, I’m sure you have heard this question in one form or the other.  We live in a society where, for many, a regular meal is not enough.  We want more!  We deserve more!  We need more!  More money, more time to ourselves, more things, larger meals, larger homes, larger cars, etc., etc., etc..

God tells us in Ecclesiastes that the eye is never satisfied with seeing.  “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income.”  (Ecclesiastes 5:10 NASB)

If left unchecked, the more we see, the more we want.  There seems to always be something just out of reach that we want, deserve, need, or just have to have.  We spend enormous amounts of energy and financial resources trying to find the biggest, best, fastest, nicest things we can find.  Or at least bigger, better, faster, and nicer than what those around us have.  It is so easy to get caught in this pursuit of things that we forget to pursue God.  Many times God gets the leftovers, if there are any, because we fail to plan ahead and give God from our first and our best.

I wonder what would happen if all Christians would pursue God with the intensity that we have in other areas of interest in our life.  Can you imagine seeking a super-sized Sunday School?  A mega-sized worship service?  A king-sized ministry of caring and missions?  An up-sized effort of outreach and evangelism?  It might sound something like this:  “Would it be possible to have more Bible study opportunities?”  . . . “I wish our worship service wouldn’t get over so quickly!” . . . “How can I help more people in our church, community, and world?”  . . . “Where could I best spend my time to impact lost people for Jesus?”

May you and I truly desire to live large by living large for Jesus!

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Pass The Salt, Please

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.  Let you conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”  Colossians 4:5-6

How serious do you take your witness for Jesus?  Do you consistently think about how others view your actions?  As Christians, we generally try to avoid the things we consider major sins.  We would never think about stealing something or murdering someone.  Or would we?  You know, “the hotel expects people will take the towels, etc.” or “they have so much at work, they won’t miss a little of this or that.”  Or remember the teaching of Jesus, the harboring of hatred toward others is the same attitude in our hearts as murder!  It is a bad reflection on Christians when those outside of Christ look at us and see no difference in the way we live.

I’ve been to Christian conventions for both youth and adults.  At many of them, I have been told by hotel and restaurant personnel that they see no difference in the way they are treated compared to when any other group comes to town.  In fact, some hotels refuse to book rooms for Christian conventions because the youth groups or adult groups are rude, demanding, and show little respect or restraint.  Obviously, there are exceptions on both sides and some individuals and groups do quite well in representing Christ.  However, it saddens me when I hear these reports of individuals not experiencing the best treatment of their career when dealing with Christians.

We would do well to daily practice restraint and wisdom in dealing with others.  Our conversation should be gracious and “seasoned with salt”.  If you’ve ever been on a no-salt diet, you quickly learn to find seasoning of some type to avoid tasteless food.  I think that Paul is getting at a similar theme in these verses.  We’re not to have tasteless conversations that would void our attempts to witness.  As our speech is seasoned properly, we learn to answer everyone appropriately.

May God give us wisdom in our speech and actions so that we are productive and faithful servants of Jesus.

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It All Has To Go!

I have a dream . . .  Oh, wait . . . That was someone else’s speech. 

I did have a dream the other night that made me think.  Oh, I should probably start with the statement that I hate snakes!  That is probably why this particular dream was so memorable and made me think and take notice.

They say that what and when you eat may have an effect on the dreams you have when you sleep.  I don’t know if that is true, but I had just had an incredible Greek food experience that evening.  (For more about that, see The Acropolis post.)  Probably more significant than what I ate is the fact that I was at a National Student Conference where Randy Garris spoke God’s Word and challenged us to simplify, to live “truly human” in wholeness as God created us, and to stand in an intersection in life shepherding people that have needs. 

Anyhow, I had this dream that made me think about the things I try to hold on to.  It also made me think about things that I tolerate, and shouldn’t, simply because to get rid of them would disrupt some of the things I enjoy.  In my dream, I was in a lovely park and found a small concrete bench where I could sit and enjoy the view and the beautiful flowers blooming all around me.  As I sat, there eventually came a slight noise from under the bench.  It was kind of like the air slowly leaking out of a tire.  I was a little curious as to what this noise could be, so I looked under the bench where there was a marvelous planting of tulips.  They were perfect!  They were so incredible that I could not help but get down to take some pictures and admire them even more closely.

That is when I saw it.  Out from between two of the most beautiful blooms there were, came a small head of a viper.  (Now, I don’t know anything about snakes to know one from another –did I mention I hate snakes– but in my dream I knew this was a viper.)  Now in real life, I run!  But in dreams, we sometimes do things differently.  In this dream, I miraculously sat there having a debate with myself.  I loved the flowers.  They were beautiful.  They looked perfect.  I wanted some good close-up pictures.  I didn’t like the snake.  I knew it was bad.  I didn’t want anything to do with it.  Yet, I kept telling myself, “It’s only one – and a small one at that.”  “I’m sure if I don’t bother it, it will leave me alone as well.”  “Maybe if I could just gently move the flowers a little bit away from the viper I could still enjoy them and get some great pictures – pictures without the snake in them!”  Fear kept me from reaching in.  Maybe if I just ignored it and walked around to the back side of the bench, the tulips would be just as beautiful and the snake would not be visible.  It was worth a try.

As I stepped around the end of the bench, I could hear the sound in my dream change.  That slow tire leak was becoming more persistent and increasingly louder.  The sound of many tire leaks, of a mighty rushing wind, filled my ears as I looked under this side of the bench and discovered the viper up front was probably just a baby that had slithered off from the overwhelming brood of them that had taken up residence under the back side of the little concrete bench!  Did I mention I hate snakes?  That was enough for me.  I woke up with this vivid picture in my mind.  A picture I would have liked to have never seen.  A picture that made me think, “That was wierd!” 

Unlike most of my dreams, this one didn’t disappear when I awoke.  It stayed with me, not in a frightening way but in a thoughtful way.  It made me think about how often in life do I have a similiar reaction when I see or experience something that attracts me.  Something that is good and pleasing.  Something that has just a small piece of bad or evil in it – you know, that TV show, that movie, that situation, that relationship that isn’t “that bad”.  I don’t know how often I have heard someone recommend a movie to me with the disclaimer, “You’ll have to overlook some of the language, but other than that it’s a good movie.”  Or, “There are a few scenes that are inappropriate, but overall it has a great story-line.” 

I think about my dream and the thought I had in it.  “It’s just a small viper, you do want to enjoy the tulips, don’t you?”  How often are the small “vipers” that show up in your life and mine just the tip of the real “brood of evil” that is lurking in the background just waiting for us to ignore the threat of even a “hint” of sin?

I pray that no matter how Satan may try to package evil and disguise it in ways that we think are manageable, we would see through the deceipt and tricks and realize that it all has to go!

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Daily Bread

Bread 

“‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed – or indeed only one.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.'”  Luke 10:41-42

“Give us each day our daily bread.”  Luke 11:3

I find it interesting, that as Luke sat down to “write an orderly account” of the events of Jesus’ life on earth, that the teaching of Jesus on prayer immediately follows the account of His interaction with Mary and Martha.  When reading these two stories together, it raises the question when asking for daily bread, “What is the one thing that is needed?“

Most of us live a life full of choices.  So many choices that it becomes hard for us to pray for our daily bread because we can’t decide what it will be today.  Do I want literal bread, and if so, should it be white . . . or wheat . . . or oat . . . or some specialty variety?  Or perhaps I want my prayer for daily bread to be figurative.  But then what do I ask for?  . . . Steak & potatoes?  . . . Seafood?  . . . Italian?  . . . Chinese? . . . Some combination of my favorite foods?  We have such a hard time deciding, we often fail to ask for our daily bread – rather we settle with thanking God for the meal we decided on instead of asking Him to provide what we need.

Yet Jesus says there is one thing that is needed and Mary has chosen it.  What could be so powerful, so fulfilling, so necessary that Jesus commends Mary for choosing it?  We look at the text in Luke and we see that the one thing Mary did was she “sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.”  That is it?  Could Jesus Himself be the one thing that is needed?  While not clearly stated, the idea is evident that Martha was greatly worried about the “daily bread”.  The “preparations” for a guest surely would have included meals.  Yet Jesus makes it clear that the preparations were not nearly as important as listening to Him.

That brings us back to asking for our daily bread.  I have come to believe that Jesus is teaching a principle much greater than our simply giving a “thank you for the food” prayer at meals.  To live, truly live, what bread do we need on a daily basis?  In John 6:35, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”  Our daily bread must be Jesus! 

Societies and cultures throughout history have relied on bread to sustain them when nothing else was available.  As a matter of fact, this teaching of Jesus in John 6 comes in response to the people who were bragging about Moses providing bread from heaven so the Israelites could live.  That is when Jesus replies that it was not Moses that gave bread to the people – it came from God.  God gives a true bread from heaven, a bread that gives life to the world.  That bread is Jesus.

In applying this principle, it is important that we ask, acknowledge, and thank God for providing all that sustains our physical bodies.  It is even more critical that we recognize our daily need for the true bread of heaven, Jesus.  We need to reach the point where we ask on a daily basis for Jesus to fill our life and to be our life.  To understand that without Jesus each day, we starve to death.  Then our focus changes when we pray,  “Give us today our daily bread.”  We pray more passionately, “Give me today Jesus!”

May Jesus be the bread that sustains us each day.

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Demanding Satisfaction

Satisfaction Guranteed SealSatisfaction Guaranteed!  Really? . . . Is that possible?  Can someone else guarantee your satisfaction, or mine?  How can satisfaction be promised when what satisfies you may not satisfy me?  How does a person enforce, or claim, this guarantee?  Is it possible to demand satisfaction and actually get it?  Is it possible to have such unrealistic expectations that you are never satisfied?

After each flight that I take, I fill out a survey for the airline regarding my satisfaction with the trip and their service.  One of the questions that I always laugh at, asks my opinon on the value received for the price paid.  As much as I search for the best price possible, I always think that I would have liked to have paid less.  I’ve not yet had a flight that I could truly say that I was satisfied with the price.  Does that mean the cost was unreasonable?  Not necessarily, but it may mean that my expectations were. 

True satisfaction seems to have a lot to do with contentment in spite of, not because of, expectations.  It is saying, “That is sufficient” and really meaning it.  “I know that I wanted something more and at less cost, but this is enough.”  True satisfaction is a mind-set, a decision, a committment on our part that must not rely on some other person or thing to bring us fulfillment. 

This can only come through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  It is in Jesus that we learn and know that His “grace is sufficient for you.”  It is enough.  It is plenty.  Jesus says in Matthew 6:32 that the pagans chase after the things they need to be satisfied, but it should not be that way with us.  He is to be our provider and our satisfaction.  “Then Jesus said, ‘I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'” (John 6:35)  This is a satisfaction that does not rely on our physical bodies being fed and provided for, but rather a dependance on our spiritual being, our soul, being nourished and cared for.  It allows us to sing, “I’m satisfied with just a cottage below, a little silver and a little gold.”  It also allows us to live satisfied without a cottage and with no silver or gold.  It is a satisfaction that comes not from demanding, but from surrendering. 

Demanding always says, “I want more!”  It never has enough.  Surrender says, “I give up!”  It recognizes that I don’t deserve anything, so whatever I do have is plenty.  Surrender to Jesus brings a true satisfaction because it allows us to rest in His grace and mercy.  It is there that we learn through the Holy Spirit a peace and contentment that cannot be understood outside of a relationship with Jesus. 

Are you demanding satisfaction in your home, your work, your church, your world, your life?  If so, it is time to quit demanding and surrender all of these areas to Jesus so that you can know true satisfaction.

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Greener Pastures

We’ve all heard the saying, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.”  We’ve probably all thought that and believed that at various times in life as well. 

It is interesting that as often as I’ve heard that phrase used, I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone use it and actually mean it.  It is always in the context of, “you think it is that way but it really isn’t.”  They don’t mean the grass is greener, it just looks that way from this side. 

I’ve spent this past week out in the Pacific Northwest and as I’ve travelled in Washington and Oregon, I’ve thought the grass really does look greener out here.  So, what if the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence.  What difference would that make?  Would it cause us to climb the fence?  Maybe even get off the fence and decide where we will walk?  Perhaps even be so bold as to investigate why the grass is greener?  No, for most people there is never a decision made, just a complaint that someone has it better than they do.

Yes, the grass is greener, the flowers are larger and more beautiful, the landscapes more lush out here than anything in northern Indiana in the summer.  But there is a price.  The price is rain.  Day after day of cloudy, gloomy, rainy weather.  Yes, there are days of sun to provide the energy for growth, but it is the rainy seasons of the northwest that bring with it a greenness that the hot, dry summers of Indiana can never produce.

Our spiritual lives can be similar.  We may see someone who appears to have an incredible connection with God and we wonder why they have that and we don’t.  Envy and jealousy begins to creep into our life as we allow thoughts of unfairness to dwell in our mind.  We close our mind to the “rain” that has filled a person’s life and caused them to draw nearer to God.  Even if we recognize the cloudy, dreary days that drew a person into a depth of relationship with God, we want a shortcut.  We want the result without the things necessary to bring it about. 

God has designed no shortcuts.  He says that if we want to be His disciple, we must take up our cross and follow Him.  Our faith must be tried and tested.  Our salvation must be worked out with fear and trembling.  It is work.  It is hardship.  It is not easy.  Yet, when accomplished, the peace, joy, and contentment that comes will always make the grass look greener on your side of the fence. 

May you be found walking in greener pastures because you faithfully pursue Christ at all costs.