Use It - And End Up With More

Our Promise today comes at the close of the Parable of The Three Servants. To the first servant the master gave the most money. To the second somewhat less, and to the third he gave the least. It wasn’t that he favored one servant over another – he simply was familiar with their abilities and so gave each one the amount he knew they could make good use of. Then he went on a long trip. When he returned he required that his servants give him an account of how they put the money to use. You can read the entire story to refresh your memory.(a) Basically the parable deals with our responsibility for what God has given us and the consequences which follow depending on how we use His gifts.

All of us are the recipients of all sorts of God-given gifts. Where, when and to whom we were born, are all part of our endowment, as are our abilities, opportunities, relationships and privileges, etc. His greatest gift is the privilege of receiving Christ as our savior. Receiving Christ as savior or not receiving Him has eternal consequences.

All of these things are gifts from the hands of our Master, and He is expecting us to put them to good use. There is coming a day when we will individually stand before Him and give an account of how we used what He has entrusted to us. Whether those gifts were great and numerous or whether they were average or even minuscule – it really doesn’t matter. What matters, is did we put them to good use.

The day of accounting can be a day when we happily report, “Lord, I invested what you gave me, and here is the increase it made.” And we can expect to hear the good news, “You did well, you were faithful over a few things, I will put you in charge of many things – let’s rejoice together.” ”To those who use well what they were given, even more will be given.”

The servant who got the bad news was the one who totally copped out. Afraid to take the risk of investing the money, he buried it, and then blamed his master for being unfair. His master became furious, “You could at least have put it in the bank and gotten interest on it.” He took the money from him and gave it to the one who had the most and said, “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” This kind of language is only used of people who refuse to put their trust in Jesus.



Lets Pray –
Father, thank you for all the gifts you have so graciously given us, and for your promise to give us even more as we use well what we have. Father, fear sometimes keeps us from using your gifts. Please forgive us, and help us to overcome the fear. We long to hear your “Well done.”
Amen


Footnotes:
(a) Matthew 25:14-30


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Sowing Good Seed - With The Harvest In Mind

Donna and I grew up on farms, and from childhood on we have been familiar with planting seed and harvesting. Ever since we have been married we’ve had a vegetable garden and flowers virtually every year, and I know as long as the Lord gives me strength I will want to be gardening. I love it! It’s a partnership with God - I plant the seed, water it and pull weeds - He makes it grow and we get to share the harvest with our neighbors!!

There is a basic spiritual principle here, which applies to all areas of life. If we sow radish seed we get radishes. If we plant Bell Pepper plants we get Bell Peppers, etc. We will always reap what we sow,(a) whether it’s something good or bad. It’s not too difficult to figure out that it is always the best idea to plant good stuff. Everyone benefits when we do that.

As parents we are blessed with the fertile ground of our young children’s hearts and minds - ready to receive the seeds of our good example, and the seed of God’s Word. We have the opportunity to water the seeds, and pull weeds. They were born with weed seeds. We also have the opportunity to pray for the harvest, (the giving of their hearts to Christ and pattern their lives after Him). I believe children are the most important garden that parents will ever work in!

No matter where we find ourselves in life whether deliberately or unintentionally; wherever we go, we are always sowing seeds, hopefully it is mostly good seed. At home – at work – at the store – across the back fence – on the phone, we are continuously sowing the seeds of our character. Sometimes, led by the Holy Spirit, we deliberately bear witness of our faith in Christ. Other times we share God’s Word with people going through difficult times. We are sowing good seed!

A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it. Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture. Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants. Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!(b)

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.(c)



Let’s Pray-
Father, thank you for the caring people, who sowed good seed into our lives and for the harvest that it has yielded. Help us not to grow weary in sowing good seed into lives all around us, and may we, by your grace, see the fruit it will produce.
Amen



Footnote:
(a) Galatians 6:7, (b) Luke 8:5-8, (c) Galatians 6:9


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SELF-DENIAL - IS THE WAY TO LIVE!

Selfishness is a basic characteristic of fallen human nature. Part of a child’s early vocabulary are the words, “my” and “mine.” Sharing and giving up our desires does not come naturally. It is a process which we need to work at throughout our lifetime.

The perfect and ultimate example of self-denial of course is Jesus. We can’t imagine what self-denial it took to give up the glories of heaven and come to this sinful world. Or think of the painful self-denial in the garden of Gethsemane when he prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”(a) There is no greater self-denial! Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. (b)

Human nature is to do what we want to do, when we want to do it. A person may unconsciously think he is saving his life by living selfishly, but in reality he is losing it. On the other hand if we “turn from our selfish ways” and do what God requires, we will experience joy and an awareness of His pleasure.

The other day I had a lot to get done and another unexpected task came up, and selfishly not considering that Donna had her own hands full, I asked her to take care of it. And the Lord brought today’s scripture to my mind - “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.” I knew immediately I needed to take care of the unexpected task myself. As I did, there was this warm sense of God’s pleasure filling my heart.

This principle works on every level of life - whether it’s denying our self and spending time, energy and resources to help a neighbor, or whether it is denying our self and setting aside our anger and hurt feelings to forgive someone who has hurt us. Whatever the issue may be, the results will always be the same. Self-denial “for Christ’s sake” always results in experiencing God’s pleasure.

In places where Christians are severely persecuted, self-denial may mean making the choice between denying Christ and living or denying one’s self and ending up dead. To deny Christ would mean eternal death, but to die “for Christ’s sake” results in eternal life.

When Jesus faced the choice of saving His life, or giving it up for us, He chose to deny Himself and die because He knew dying in our behalf would make life possible for us, so “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame.”(c)


Lets Pray-
Thank You Jesus, for showing us how to really live by denying ourselves, like you did. But Lord, it is one thing to see your example, and quite something different to follow it. Please help us.
Amen


Footnotes:
(a) Matthew 26:39 NLT, (b) Matthew 16:24-25 NLT, (c) Hebrews 12:2 KJV


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God Is With Us In Every Stage Of LIfe

Today’s promise is directed to all of us as God’s people, no matter at what stage of life we find ourselves in. The God who created heaven and earth – who gave us physical life and sacrificed His only Son that we might have eternal life – says, “I will take care of you.” “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”(a)

If you are in your youth, you are on the very threshold of your journey. At times you may feel invincible - like nothing could ever stop you. At other times you are insecure and fearful to make choices that confront you. God has given you His Word, “I will care for you.” You can count on Him. He keeps His promises!

You may be in the prime of life. You are married, and have a family, a nice home in a pleasant neighborhood. Financially, you have become quite comfortable with both of you bringing home pay-checks, but it has left it’s mark on your family relationships. The loving God who made all those temporal blessings possible, invites you to refocus on Him, so He can heal what is broken. His promise is, “I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.”

Empty Nester? Retired? You have had a good life, and you planned to travel - see the world – enjoy the grandchildren and all the benefits of retirement, but serious health problems have become an issue. Some of those plans will have to be put aside, and you wonder what is going to happen. Hear God’s tender whisper, “I will be your God throughout your lifetime.” Let His promise bring peace and comfort to your heart.

Are you single, never married, divorced, widowed? In this stage of your life you may be struggling with negative thoughts - “Nobody wants me,” “Where did I fail?” - “If only I had . . .” There are times you feel out of place because you are by yourself and everyone else seems to have a mate. Your singleness has been allowed or planned by your loving Heavenly Father who created you and promises to take care of you. He has given His Holy Spirit to assure you that “His grace is sufficient for you.”(b)

Then there is the stage when most people’s “hair is white with age.” We have had our joyful seasons, but also gone through painful burdensome times. There have been times when we asked, “Lord, where are you?” and He replied, “The time you have seen only one set of footprints is when I carried you.”(c) Indeed He has always been with us and His promise still is “I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.”



Let’s Pray –
Father, you are so faithful. From our mother’s womb – through this earthly life - to our eternal home with you – at every stage we are in your care! Please plant the reality of this truth deep within our souls and let it comfort and encourage us.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Footnotes:
(a) Romans 8:32, (b) 2 Corinthians 12:9, (c) Footprints in the Sand

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God Finishes What He Starts

You have heard someone say “God is good” and others responded “All the time!” Both those statements are true because that is God’s nature. Everything God does, has done, and ever will do, is always good!!

Our promise this week deals with God’s good work within us. That work, in a sense, had it’s beginning long before we took our first breath. In fact it started before He laid “the foundation of the world”(a) and it will continue until we have become like Jesus.(b) Everything God brings or permits into our lives is for that purpose.(c) While God’s good work on our behalf started from the dawn of creation, we personally began to respond to that work when we opened our hearts to Christ and accepted Him as our savior. That’s when He specifically began His good work in us.

God works in us through His Word, as we become familiar with it and apply it to our lives. He works in us through His Holy Spirit as we yield to His leading and promptings. We experience His work in us as we worship Him and as we develop loving relationships with fellow Christians. He works in us through the pleasant things He brings into our lives. But He also works in us through sad and painful experiences which He allows.(d) We welcome the pleasant and joyful times, but in reality it is in the hard times that we become more like Jesus if we respond to them in the right way.

“Sometimes life seems hard to bear;
Full of sorrow, trouble and woe
It’s then I have to remember
That it’s in the valleys I grow….

Thank you for the valleys, Lord
For this one thing I know
The mountaintops are glorious
But it’s in the valleys I grow!”(e)

Whatever life brings us, difficult as it may be, our God will never abandon us, He will continue His good work, which He has begun in us. Some people quit the job before it s completed – not so our God! Our God will continue His good work in us until it is finished. He carefully plans His work so He will have it done on the very day we see Jesus. With some of us he has more work to do than with others, but we can all trust Him to be right on schedule. What confidence that should give us, whether it is when He calls us home, or when He returns for His Church. When we see Him we shall be like Him!!



Let’s Pray –
Father, thank you for your faithful work in us, molding us into the image of your Son. We are so grateful that we can have full confidence that you will finish what you started! Grant us grace to completely trust you.
Amen



Footnotes:
(a) Ephesians 1:4, (b) 1John 3:2-3, (c) Romans 8:28, (d) James 1:2-4, (e) Mary N. Nelson



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BECAUSE HE LIVES - WE TOO SHALL LIVE

The Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is a dark day. Jesus has been executed on a Roman cross; His dead body is placed in a tomb sealed with a large stone. From a purely human standpoint, He is gone – it was all over for Him. His disciples were hiding behind closed doors afraid that they might be next. Their hopes that Jesus would establish an earthly kingdom were utterly crushed. It indeed was a dark day! Jesus had told them at various times and in different ways that He would die and rise again,(a) but it just hadn’t sunk in. The forces of hell thought they had destroyed the Son of God, and His disciples were confused, and didn’t know what to think. It was Saturday, a very dark day, but Sunday was on the way!!

Some women who were followers of Jesus went to the tomb early Sunday morning intending to anoint the body of Jesus with spices. They found that the stone, which had sealed the tomb, was rolled away. The tomb was empty, and an angel announced to them “He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen.”(b) The women hurried to tell the disciples who couldn’t believe their ears when they were told that Jesus was alive.

You know the story – how Jesus appeared to the disciples on numerous occasions over a period of 40 days and taught them about the Kingdom of Heaven. Then one day He ascended up into heaven while they watched. Attending angels said, “Why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”(c) Jesus is alive!! And He is coming again!!! That’s why we celebrate Easter!

The fact that Jesus rose from the dead, and is alive, has a monumental impact on every human being. If He were still dead, we would still be in our sin and under God’s eternal judgment with no hope of ever being forgiven. But the glorious news of Easter is He is alive and we have forgiveness through faith in Him.

Because Jesus is alive “He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”(d) I can’t imagine anything more encouraging than to be assured that Jesus as our High Priest is eternally making intercession for us.

And furthermore, because Jesus is alive, “we sorrow not, as others who have no hope.”(e) When we stand at the graveside of a believing loved one, even though it is terribly painful we have this firm conviction that they are with Jesus and “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”(f) That’s the Good News of Easter.

Our resurrected, ascended Lord is coming back again one of these days as the scripture promises. “The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.”(g)

May this Easter season be special for you as you meditate on these truths about the resurrection of Jesus and His coming again.


Let’s Pray-
Oh Jesus, how can we ever thank you enough for the realities of Easter - for the blessed assurance your resurrection brings us? Because you live we to shall live, forever! Help us to so live our daily lives that we will bring honor to you.
In your name we pray.
Amen



Footnotes:
(a) Mark 10:33-34 NLT, Matthew 16:21 NLT, (b) Matthew 28:6 NLT, (c) Acts 1:11 NLT, (d) Hebrews 7:25 NKJV,(e) 1 Thessalonians 4:13 KJV, (f) Revelation 21:4 NLT, (g) Acts 1:11 NLT


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Assurance of Salvation

Not being sure about something makes us feel uneasy. Trivial stuff really doesn't matter, but when it comes to serious matters we need to make sure.

Our soul is the most valuable part of our being. Jesus pointed that out when He said, “What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?”(a) Our soul is eternal and if there is anything we need to be sure about, it is the destiny of our soul.

It seems odd, but many people give little or no attention to the security of this priceless possession. When we die it’s not all over, our soul continues to exist forever. Scripture clearly teaches about heaven (b) and hell (c) as real places, and our soul will spend eternity in one place or the other. There is no in between.

Everyone in his right mind wants to go to heaven. However, people have different ideas how to get there. The most common is if we do more good than bad we hopefully will make it. The problem with this approach is we can never be sure that we have done enough good, so there is always a doubt whether we’ll make it. And rightly so, because scripture says, salvation is not a reward for our good deeds.(d) Good works can never bring assurance of salvation!

Salvation is the free gift of God’s grace, which can only be received by faith. “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.”(e) On the basis of God’s grace we can know without a doubt that we will go to heaven when we die. We can be sure of our salvation! “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.”(f)

As clear as that is, there still are people in church every Sunday who don’t have the assurance of salvation, simply because they go by the assumption that somehow they have to be good enough to go to heaven.

Dear friend, it is not faith and works that brings us assurance of salvation. It is confessing by faith what the Lord has done for us! We can’t add anything to the finished work of Christ. We must simply trust what God says in His word to have assurance of salvation. Good works are the by-product of salvation – it’s what we do because we are saved. As the Word says, “Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.”(g) “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”(h)



Let’s Pray-
Thank you Jesus, for dying in our place and paying for all our sin.
And thank you Lord, that even the faith to believe that, is a free gift from you!!
Forgive our pride in thinking we could help you with it.
You are so gracious!!! We love you Lord.
Help us to serve you with all our heart because we are saved.
Amen


Footnotes:
(a) Mark 8:36, (b) Matthew 18:10, 28:18, Mark 16:19,
(c) Matthew 7:13, Luke 2:15, 2 Peter 2:4, (d) Ephesians 2:9,
(e) Ephesians 2:8, (f) Romans 10:9-10, (g) Philippians 2:12,
(h) Ephesians 2:8-9


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