Being Faithful

Doing your appointed work each day is the best way to live in your purpose as God intends. If you don’t approach it with respect and seriousness, it will be like getting caught sleeping on the job - you would be disrespecting Christ and his love and sacrifice for you. 

Luke 12:35-48 (TLB) 34 “My coming can be compared with that of a man who went on a trip to another country. He laid out his employees’ work for them to do while he was gone and told the gatekeeper to watch for his return. 35-37 “Keep a sharp lookout! For you do not know when I will come, at evening, at midnight, early dawn or late daybreak. Don’t let me find you sleeping. Watch for my return! This is my message to you and to everyone else.”

11/27/2022

Serving Jesus Personally

The Bible puts great stock in how you treat others. As you help, you serve Jesus personally.  Sometimes it isn’t always obvious, but the poor, lonely, homeless, prisoners, or physically and mentally ill aren’t all economically deprived. These conditions are spiritual as well. 

Matthew 25:31-46 (TLB) 31 “But when I, the Messiah, shall come in my glory, and all the angels with me, then I shall sit upon my throne of glory. 32 And all the nations shall be gathered before me. And I will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and place the sheep at my right hand, and the goats at my left. 34 “Then I, the King, shall say to those at my right, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, into the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you fed me; I was thirsty and you gave me water; I was a stranger and you invited me into your homes; 36 naked and you clothed me; sick and in prison, and you visited me.’ 37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Sir, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you anything to drink? 38 Or a stranger, and help you? Or naked, and clothe you? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ 40 “And I, the King, will tell them, ‘When you did it to these my brothers, you were doing it to me!’ 41 Then I will turn to those on my left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry and you wouldn’t feed me; thirsty, and you wouldn’t give me anything to drink; 43 a stranger, and you refused me hospitality; naked, and you wouldn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ 44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ 45 “And I will answer, ‘When you refused to help the least of these my brothers, you were refusing help to me.’ 46 “And they shall go away into eternal punishment; but the righteous into everlasting life.”

11/20/2022

Pull yourself up by the bootstraps

The only way to truly pull yourself up by your bootstraps is to ask God what to do each day. The self-determination is on you to ask, not to have the answers.  Listen for his voice and follow his instructions. God redeems and rescues as you listen and trust him.

Psalms 49:8-9 (MSG) 7-9 Really! There’s no such thing as self-rescue, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. The cost of rescue is beyond our means, and even then it doesn’t guarantee, Life forever, or insurance against the Black Hole.

11/17/2022

Cultivating Common Sense

 

Common sense is a limited commodity unless you cultivate it and consulting with God is the best way. So many endeavors, even if only planning your day, are blessed by wise planning and common sense.  Keeping abreast of the facts requires you check in with God about them.

Proverbs 24:3-4 (TLB) 3-4 Any enterprise is built by wise planning, becomes strong through common sense, and profits wonderfully by keeping abreast of the facts.

11/13/2022

The Unjust Servant

The accountant in this parable thought he was too slick to get caught.  His employer considers him clever in some ways, but it is only a temporal way out of dishonor.  Honesty is one of the hardest virtues to accomplish, in the young and old and in small and large matters. 

Luke 16:1-13 (TLB)1Jesus now told this story to his disciples: “A rich man hired an accountant to handle his affairs, but soon a rumor went around that the accountant was thoroughly dishonest. 2 “So his employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about your stealing from me? Get your report in order, for you are to be dismissed.’ 3 “The accountant thought to himself, ‘Now what? I’m through here, and I haven’t the strength to go out and dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. 4 I know just the thing! And then I’ll have plenty of friends to take care of me when I leave!’ 5-6 “So he invited each one who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ ‘My debt is 850 gallons of olive oil,’ the man replied. ‘Yes, here is the contract you signed,’ the accountant told him. ‘Tear it up and write another one for half that much!’ 7 “‘And how much do you owe him?’ he asked the next man. ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the accountant said, ‘take your note and replace it with one for only 800 bushels!’ 8 “The rich man had to admire the rascal for being so shrewd.[a] And it is true that the citizens of this world are more clever in dishonesty* than the godly* are. 9 But shall I tell you to act that way, to buy friendship through cheating? Will this ensure your entry into an everlasting home in heaven? 10 No! For unless you are honest in small matters, you won’t be in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s money, why should you be entrusted with money of your own? 13 “For neither you nor anyone else can serve two masters. You will hate one and show loyalty to the other, or else the other way around—you will be enthusiastic about one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

11/6/2022