Quiet Time: Blessed to Bless

Blessed to Bless

Not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. – 1 Peter 3:9

God has blessed me; therefore, I must bless others (Pulpit Commentary)

“Skin for skin”, “an eye for an eye”, and “Don’t get mad-get even” are all well known and well practiced idioms of the day.

(1 Peter 3:9) tells us not to return: apodidontes: to give up, give back, return, restore; evil: kakon: bad, evil for evil or insult: loidorian: abuse, railing for railing. Then it goes on to say we are to give a blessing: eulogountes: to speak well of, to praise the person who insults us.

Why would God command such a realistically implausible and practically impossible response to verbal abuse? It is because He knows us better than we know ourselves. We need to do this. Also it is the fact that His Holy Spirit indwells and empowers the believer to do the seemingly impossible.

Actually, though, in this case, we are told to follow Him in this response because of our future, our inheritance. In other words, this world is where we walk by faith knowing that one day our faith will be sight and we will see Him face to face.

Just in case we think that it really is impossible to accomplish this command, God has given us several examples to follow:

• Joseph could’ve gotten back at his brothers but instead he, “Gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man's silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey.” – Genesis 42:25

• David had could’ve killed Saul. Instead he said, “But the LORD forbid that I should lay a hand on the LORD's anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let's go." – 1 Samuel 26:11

• Solomon tells us “Do not say, ‘I'll pay you back for this wrong!’ Wait for the LORD, and he will avenge you”. – Proverbs 20:22

• Jesus, the ultimate example tells us to, “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you”. – Luke 6:28.

"If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them” (John 13:17). I think that something happens in our heart when we walk out the word. In that instant we experience a little bit of heaven here on earth. We are blessed by God at that moment so that we can give Him glory.

Be a blessing. (Romans 12:14)

 

 

 

Quiet time: God Was Sorry

God Was Sorry

The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 

– Genesis 6:6

How bad do things have to get before they hurt the heart of God?

When God created man God said, “It is very good” (Gen. 1:31) and we understand that God deeply “loved” this being (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8; Eph. 2:4; 2 Thess. 2:16; Rev. 1:5). 

But in creating man with the capacity to love, he also included the ability for man to choose. Love is nonexistent without choice; as anyone who has ever loved someone who has not loved them back fully understands. So, by giving man the gift of choice, God put His own heart on the line. He took the risk that His creation would choose to refuse His love for them.

 Having the right to choose means that people can choose to love other than God.  Surely, there have been times that all of us have chosen to love the creation more than the Creator. I can only imagine the grief we’ve caused Him. 

The good news is that God is always faithful, even when we are faithless (2 Tim. 2:13) and continues to draw us back to Himself (James 4:8) which is where we were created to be.

May we live each day to make God’s heart happy?

Quiet Time: Why Be Sad

Why Be Sad

"If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it." 

– Genesis 4:7

Sin makes us sad.

We are happiest when we do well, right, and follow the light.

Mastering anything, according to Robert Greene, author of the book Mastery  says the secret ingredients to becoming a world master at something are “desire and time”. Perhaps this helps us understand why Christ followers often find themselves overcome by sin. 

There are two desires within every Christian, the flesh and the Spirit (Gal. 5:17) therefore, we must determine to desire and allocate time for the things that build up the Spirit’s ability to work within us.

A Christ follower is happiest when following Jesus and sad when he sins.Why be sad?

Quiet Time: Thanksgiving Abounds

Thanksgiving Abounds

For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. 

– 2 Corinthians 4:15

I was watching a program the other night where the network's stars from all of the sitcoms and shows sat around a table filled with traditional Thanksgiving chattel. As the camera panned out from a close up of the person seated at the head of the table, she began praying the perfunctory universally acceptable thanksgiving prayer. I wondered out loud, “So, who’s she praying to?”   

The Corinthians had an intimate understanding of the cause for thankfulness. They'd seen their spiritual father, Paul suffer much at the hands of those who opposed the gospel (2 Cor. 1:6). Paul understood that his persecution was for the betterment of the new believers (2 Cor. 4:15; Rom. 8:28). 

The Corinthians had accepted with joy the good news Paul had preached to them, that their sins were wiped away by the blood of Jesus the Messiah, but now they were seeing the price Paul paid for delivering that message to them; his affliction, persecution, and physical torture (2 Cor. 4:7-12). 

Paul’s example of confidence and joy, regardless of the circumstances, inspired the Corinthians to get involved through prayer , giving, and in sharing the Gospel with more fervency (2 Cor. 1:11; 2 Cor. 9:11-12). As a result, many people came to accept salvation through Christ and both old and new believers rejoiced together with hearts full of thanksgiving and praise to God.

Without Christ what’s the point in praying, or being thankful for that matter. 

With Jesus, thanksgiving abounds from here to eternity.

I am thankful for:

·         Church leaders who inspire confidence in following Christ

·         My sins being washed away by the blood of Jesus

·         New believers who experience the joy of their salvation

·         Things not seen eternal and beyond anything I can imagine

Quiet Time: The Face of Joy

The Face of Joy

Then he said to them, "Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." – Nehemiah 8:10

Des and I recently returned from a trip celebrating our twenty ninth marriage anniversary. While perusing the local arts and crafts in a Caribbean market, we were lamenting the fact that neither of us remembered to bring a bible. (Well, actually, I thought that I’d downloaded a bible app but as it turned out it didn’t work) One of the artists overheard our conversation and immediately handed us her pocket New Testament saying, “Here honey, take mine!” Of course we protested but she insisted; so, we gratefully accepted her gift and asked for her name so that we could record the moment in the front of the bible. She smiled and said, “Joy, my name is Joy!”  Immediately Des and I exchanged knowing glances as we simultaneously blurted out, “JOY!” 

You see, the night before Des and I left for the trip, our home bible study group was in a deep discussion regarding how the Thessalonian believers experienced joy in the midst of their trials. Someone spoke up and said, “I think we should all come back next week with a verse from the bible that talks about joy. Then, we can each share it, telling what we think God is saying in the verse and what makes it special to us.” Everyone thought that this sounded like a great idea, so our “no homework” bible study group assigned themselves homework with, well…joy!

As it turned out, Des and I returned from vacation the day of the next scheduled small group study. We couldn’t wait to hear how God had worked in the hearts of our little gang and of course share our remarkable experience with Joy. 

 Here’s a list of verses from some of our team members:  

Des, Psalm 71:23

Gail, John 15:11

Marie, Romans 15:13

Kathleen, Isaiah 35:1-2

Shelly, Job 33:36

We all rejoiced in the passages that each person offered, and the insights provided. Truth be known, we could’ve ended the bible study right after this time of sharing, but we pressed on and found ourselves with another homework assignment. 

Each one of us will try to return with a scripture reading about the unchanging goodness of God in times of trouble.

Des and I saw God’s goodness everywhere on our recent trip; but, none more clearly than when our blunder became God’s blessing. 

Father God heard our hearts cry to hear His voice and He provided by showing us the face of Joy.

Here’s a link to an early 90’s song by Twila Paris titled “The Joy of the Lord” that may help bring joy on your journey.