Good or Harm

Do you like being put on the spot with a challenging question? How do you answer a question that will expose your negative attitude? How have you heard others answer such questions? Did you marvel at their answer or loath their answer?

Being put on the spot to answer a challenging question can expose our hardened heart. We may decide not to answer the question at all. We may storm out of the room. Having your negative attitude exposed before a group of people can be embarrassing.

Traditions can be both good and bad. Generally speaking, traditions are often started with good intentions and based on sound principles. Yet, when the sound principles and the original reasons are forgotten, they can become onerous and bad. This is what Jesus was pointing out to the Jewish religious leaders on a sabbath.

A man who had a shriveled hand, one that was useless, came into the synagogue (think church). It is very likely they were in the middle of a worship service. Jesus stops the service to bring the man forward. The leaders are appalled! There was a traditional rule against working on the sabbath. Going against the tradition, Jesus heals the man. The leaders are now outraged.

Jesus challenges them with an exposing question before healing the man. They refuse to answer, remaining silent. As soon as Jesus heals the man, the leaders storm out of the synagogue and plot to kill Him. Jesus knew their hearts and He knows ours. He often asks us the same question. Is it right to do good or do harm? How are we going to react to His question?

We face that question many times. Unfortunately, we react the same way the Jewish religious leaders did more than we should. The subject may not be healing a man with a shriveled hand, but the question is the same. Will we do good or do harm? The next time that question is asked of us, we might remember how Jesus answered His own question.

I pray we all think about the question Jesus asks us. I pray we remember how He answered His own question. I pray each one of us will choose to do good rather than to do harm. Be prepared to answer Jesus’ question. Choose to do good. Choose principle over tradition. Choose to follow Jesus.

Mark 3:4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.

Sabbath

What is the sabbath to you? Do you observe a sabbath? What is Sunday to you? Do you take time to make it to church? Is Sunday like any other day? Do you work on Sunday? If you do, what other day do you have to rest? Have you considered the purpose of a sabbath?

We do not use the word sabbath in our culture much. However, we use the word sabbatical. Both words mean the same thing—taking time to rest. The Sabbath was the day of rest God had designated for his people. It was a day to worship God and rejuvenate for the next week.

The Jewish Sabbath was and is a Saturday on our calendar. As Christians, we worship on Sunday. Sometimes, we get upset when people do not make it to worship services due to having to work. However, notice Jesus’ words in today’s passage—the sabbath (a time for rest) was made for humankind, not the other way around.

As a pastor, Sunday is a workday. Personally, I try to take a sabbath day on Friday. Yet, some Fridays and Saturdays are workdays. There are funerals, special events, and conferences. When that occurs, we work on those days. We set aside the sabbath to care for people. This is Jesus’ point. We may not take a sabbath every week. We may need to take care of others.

Does this mean we should always be busy? No. We all need a time for rest. Depending on our work schedule, we may need to make a different day of the week our day of rest. In our busy world, taking time to rest can be a challenge. Yet, we all need the rest. If we did not, God would not have commanded a rest for his people. That rest may be physical or mental rest. It may be both. We need the rest to be rejuvenated to carry out the work God has set before us.

I pray we all take time to rest. I pray we take a “down day” to recuperate and rejuvenate ourselves. I pray each one of us will consciously set aside a day to rest for our own health. Obey God’s command. Set aside time to rest. Recuperate. Rejuvenate. Rest for your health.

Mark 2:27-28 Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

Miracles of God

Have you lost the mysteriousness of God? Do you explain his actions away with science or logic? Are you blind to the miracles he performs? Are you willing to be amazed once again? Will you ask God to open your eyes again to see his majesty through his works?

God has done and continues to do amazing things. Miracles occur every day. Yet, we often explain them away through scientific explanations or by using our own logic. By doing so, we can explain away any need to believe in God. We are no longer amazed.

King David knew better than to try to explain away God’s miracles. Instead, he highlighted God’s miracle of life. Through science, we explain the mother’s egg is fertilized by the father. The cell splits, then splits again, and again until a fully formed baby has developed in the mother’s womb. We think we know why that entire process happens.

But who put in motion the egg being produced by the mother? Who instituted the process of cells splitting? Who set the limit on the number of times cells split? Who created the genetics that define the physical make up of a human? God is the only explanation. He put in motion the miracle of life and our ability for us to procreate.

We may be able to explain many things with science. Yet, we cannot explain how the very first life began. We cannot explain how dirt was created, even as scientists try to explain the forming of the earth by rock and other matter colliding and sticking together. Where did the rocks originally come from? How were they created? We might be better off to simply be amazed at God’s creation and the miracle of life he created.

I pray we all give God the credit for the miracles he performs. I pray we realize it was God who created all things. I pray each one of us are amazed at God’s creation and thank him for making each one of us. Be amazed at God’s miracles. Know that God created all things. Give God the credit due him. Thank God for creating you.

Psalm 139:13

For it was you who formed my inward parts; 

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

God Knows

Who knows you better than anyone else? Is it your spouse? Is it a parent? Is it a friend? Who do you know best? How well can you know someone else or someone else know you? Are there things you never tell anyone? Are there things you have done you do not talk about?

All of us have someone who knows us very well and someone we know very well. Yet, there are always some things about us they do not know and some things about them we do not know. No one can know everything about someone else, no matter how close they are.

God knows us better than anyone. He may even know us better than we know ourselves. We have a perception of ourselves and may not admit our own faults to ourselves. God sees us without a human perception. He sees us objectively and sees everything about us. God not only sees our actions but knows every thought that passes through our minds.

Knowing that God knows everything about us, even the tiniest bit that we may not admit about ourselves, can be both freeing and terrifying. When we are thinking things we shouldn’t, we can be terrified that God knows it. On the other hand, it can free us to know that God knows all our thoughts so that when we ask for forgiveness, we know he forgives it all. It can also relieve us of the desire to hide our thoughts from him and ask him to change our thinking.

I pray we all know that God knows us—inside and out. I pray we open ourselves up before God. I pray each one of us relinquish the thought of hiding from God and live in freedom. Know that God knows. Know that he knows your thoughts. Stop trying to hide. Be set free. Ask God to change your thinking.

Psalm 139:1-2

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up; 

you discern my thoughts from far away.

Listen for God’s Call

Have you ever mistaken who was calling out to you? Have you heard a child yell, “Mom!” and thought they were calling to you? Have you heard someone in a crowd call out your name only to find out they were calling someone else with the same name?

Hearing your name called out can be exhilarating, bewildering, heartbreaking, or worrisome. The situation dictates how we react to our name being called. Hearing a child call our name in the midst of a large crowd can cause immediate worry, if not panic.

Have we missed God calling our name at some point during our lives? Maybe we have. Samuel missed God calling him twice. He thought Eli, the priest he was apprenticing to, had called him. Finally, the third time God called Samuel, he found out it was God. Samuel discovered it only because Eli had told him that if it happens a third time, it is God.

Can you imagine being a young child being called by God? Samuel must have been anxious. After all, God had not called prophets in several years. It was not common for anyone to hear from God, even the priests. Yet, a young boy is being called. There is no way Samuel could have been prepared for a call from God. We are often not prepared for God’s call either.

God calls out to us from time-to-time. He doesn’t typically call out in an audible voice. It is the quiet voice from inside. The Holy Spirit whispers to us. Or we might hear someone else who calling us for God. We simply need to pay attention. We need to keep our hearts and minds open to hear God calling us. As we become more attentive, we will hear God leading us more.

I pray we all hear God calling us. I pray we open our hearts and minds to hear God. I pray each one of us listen for the whisper of the Holy Spirit coming from within to lead us. Know that God calls you. Listen for the Holy Spirit. Be attentive. Open your heart and mind. Answer God’s call.

1 Samuel 3:4-5 Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.”

Send Me

Are you willing to answer the call from God? Are you willing to be his messenger, to go where he has called you? Are you willing to speak of his truth and tell others the gospel of Jesus Christ? Will you show God’s love, grace, and mercy to others?

Willingness. We wrestle with it more than we realize. God has called each one of us into mission with him. We all know the great commission that Jesus gave us. But we have a mission from God that encompasses more than that.

God calls us to speak truth. However, the speak truth we need to be educated and knowledgeable of the truth. We all know the basic truth—Jesus is the Son of God, He died for our sins, He rose on the third day, and He ascended to heaven. But that is the milk that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 3 and the writer of Hebrews speaks of in chapter 5.

To understand deeper truths of God as taught by Jesus and the Apostles, we need to dig deeper into the meaning and context of Scripture. Far too often we speak half-truths from a lack of understanding. How do I know? I’ve done it myself.

Knowing the truth, we are to be willing to share it with others. Like Isaiah, we should say, “Here am I; send me!” God will use us to continue to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. He will use us to show his love, grace, and mercy to the people we meet and interact with. We can be the light in a dark world. 

I pray we all dig deeper into Scripture. I pray we seek to understand the original language meaning. I pray each one of us will seek to know the context in which Scripture was written so we can better understand the Scripture. Read Scripture. Answer the call of God. Be willing to go where God has called you. Share the gospel.

Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”

Glimpse of God

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to see God? Have you wondered what he may look like? Have you thought what it might be like to be in the presence of the Creator of all things? Would you fall to your knees in fear? Would you look up with your eyes wide open and your mouth gaping open in awe?

Being in the presence of God would be an awe-inspiring experience. We almost certainly would fall to our knees, either in fear or in awe and possibly both. It is likely we won’t even be able to look at him due to the radiance of his being. It would be like looking directly into the sun.

I believe we often think of God in terms of friend, father, or even as a genie in a bottle. He is far more than either of those, even as he is often called Father and Jesus has said He is our friend. Those terms are used to give us a glimpse of who God is, but in no way fully encompass his majestic presence.

Isaiah got a fuller view of God, though I don’t believe he had a complete view. As Isaiah was in the temple, God appeared to him. But just the hem of God’s robe filled the entire temple. Keep in mind the temple was approximately, 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. The glimpse that Isaiah had was overwhelming! So much so that Isaiah believed he would die.

The lesson we can take from this is we should be in awe of God far more than we are. We need to spend time thinking and meditating on the awesomeness of God. We need to use our imaginations to better comprehend how big God is, not just in size but in power. We should ask God to reveal to us, even if just a glimpse, his awesome presence.

I pray we all ponder the awesomeness of God. I pray we seek to better grasp the power of God. I pray each one of us will ask God to give us a glimpse of him so that we may be in awe of him. Meditate on God. Seek to see his awesomeness. Know he is all-powerful. Ask for a glimpse of God’s presence.

Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple.

Freedom of the Spirit

What comes to mind when you hear the word slavery? Do you think of someone owning someone else? Have you thought of it in a different way? Have you considered you may be a slave? Have you considered there may be something that is controlling you?

People have been enslaved for thousands of years, perhaps nearly from the beginning of time. We typically associate slavery to one person owning another, people being sold on a slave market. That is certainly one type of slavery. Yet, there are other types for us to think about.

The Apostle Paul talks about slavery of the spirit in today’s passage. It is not a physical slavery but our spirit being controlled by negative, or evil, forces. The negative thoughts of fear, anxiety, and even depression take over and control us. They are caused by outside forces. Some of those are further exacerbated by social media, peer pressure, or family disfunction. We must understand that all of these are due to evil in this world.

What can we do about these negative forces? Often, we look for a quick fix. We look to medical solutions. Those medical solutions can often treat the symptoms, but not the root cause. To truly rid ourselves of the negative forces we need to pray and turn our spirit over to God’s Holy Spirit. We need to remind ourselves of what Paul tells us—we have received a spirit of adoption into God’s holy family.

As we continually remind ourselves, we can rely on medicine to treat the symptoms. Yet, our goal should be to rid ourselves of medicinal treatment over time, relying more on God. Please understand, this may take months or years to accomplish. It is through prayer and continual reminding of ourselves, or a loved one, that God has both adopted us and he is in control. As we increase our belief and faith in God, convincing ourselves we are his, we are set free from the forces of evil.

I pray we all know we have been given a spirit of adoption. I pray we know that God has given us his Spirit. I pray each one of us we have been set free by the gift of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. Know you belong to God. Know he is in control. Know that you have been set free.

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption.

Living By the Spirit

What guiding principles do you live by? Are they principles you have been taught by your parents? Are they principles you learned from an organization, such as scouts, 4H, or FFA as you were growing up? Are they principles you learned in the military?

We all live by principles. Some principles are beneficial, others are not. Some principles are meant for a lifetime. Some are only meant to apply as long as we are in a specific profession or fulfilling a specific role. Principles guide our decisions and behaviors.

We can often identify where a person learned some principles. As a retired Marine, I can often spot other people who have been in the Marine Corps by how they carry themselves, their decision-making process, and their general behavior. The same is true for people who have been with scouts, 4H, or FFA for many years. They know what those organizations teach and can spot someone who has been in those organizations.

Can people identify us as Christians by our decisions and behaviors? Paul tells the church in Rome a very important principle. Living according to worldly values will lead to death, while living by the Spirit will lead to life. He is talking about eternal death and life. Implied within his statement is this: if we live by the Spirit, there is no need to fear.

Fear and anxiety rule far too many lives. Fear of not being accepted causes anxiety. Fear of losing our earthly life causes anxiety. Fear of pain causes anxiety. But living by the Spirit, we no longer have those fears. We live for God, trusting he is in control. It does not mean we will never worry, after all we are human. It does mean we will not live in a constant state of fear and anxiety. Living by the Spirit sets us free as Jesus originally intended.

I pray we all choose to leave fear and anxiety behind. I pray we choose to live by the Spirit. I pray each one of us demonstrate the principle of living free through the Holy Spirit. Live by the Spirit. Choose to live free. Show you are a Christian by your behavior. Make wise decisions.

Romans 8:12-13 So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Holy Splendor

We know we are to give glory to God. We have heard it many times. When we read the Psalms, we often see God receiving the glory. Today’s passage is no different. God is being given the glory. Yet, there is something different in today’s passage we do not often think about.

David tells the heavenly beings, or angels, to give God the glory. They are to tell of God’s glory and strength. They are to glorify his name, then worship him in holy splendor. Can you imagine the gall of David? He is telling the angels that they are to give God the glory and worship him.

Yet, the angels do worship God. Holy splendor is not about silver and gold nor opulent surroundings. It is all about giving everything to God. The angels see God’s glory. They are in awe of him. We might say that because of their closeness to God it is easier for them to give everything to him. Yet, we must remember that Satan was an angel who rebelled against God.

The angelic worshiping of God is an example for us. We, too, should give everything to God. That includes giving our entire heart, mind, body, and soul to worshiping him. Even though we cannot see him, we know of his glory through the events we read in the Bible and through experiences we have had with him or heard of experiences others have had.

We can worship God in holy splendor by raising our hands to him, singing loud, and praising him for all our blessings. We can thank him for the little things, such as simply having a change of clothing. God is pleased when we praise him and give him the glory. Not because he needs it. But because he sees that we recognize where our blessings come from.

I pray we all give God the glory he deserves. I pray we follow the example of the heavenly beings. I pray each one of us worship God in holy splendor, praising him with all that we are. Give God the glory. Praise God. Give thanks to God. Give him your heart, mind, body, and soul.

Psalm 29:1-2

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 

Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; 

worship the Lord in holy splendor.