Tag: An Hostile World Can’t Stop Us from Using God’s Gifts - Luke 19-20

Luke 19:14

But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’

Tag: The World is Hostile Toward the Giver of Gifts

The above verse is taken from a parable told by Jesus.  Because the disciples and people around Him thought He was going to usher in the Kingdom of God, immediately, Jesus told a parable.  He told the story of a nobleman who would live his servants to go receive another country and then return.  Before he left, the nobleman distributed gifts to the servants.  The object of the parable was to impress upon the disciples, that while Jesus went away (via death, burial and resurrection) to receive the Kingdom of God (paid for by His death), the disciples were to be busy investing in the gifts God gave them.  In the middle of the story, the above verse appears.  

Is this verse here simply to give us the “context” for the servants conditions?  It states that the world around these servants are very hostile to the nobleman.   We, like them, are in a place where they reject God, but are still responsible for the gifts God gave us to use to His glory.  Notice that after Jesus finishes telling the story of rewarding those who invested in the gifts the nobleman gave them, He returns to this hostile group:

Luke 19:27

But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’”

We live in a hostile world.  Paul states the world is at war with God:

Romans 8:7-8

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Even though we live in a hostile world, we are still responsible to use and invest in the gifts God gave us.   Yes, the world is hostile.  But, as the parable teaches, we are still responsible to invest and use the gifts God gave us until He returns.  

Tag: Leadership Must Use Wisdom Wisely - Ezekiel 25-30

Ezekiel 28:1-3

Prophecy Against the Prince of Tyre

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God:

“Because your heart is proud,

and you have said, ‘I am a god,

I sit in the seat of the gods,

in the heart of the seas,’

yet you are but a man, and no god,

though you make your heart like the heart of a god—

you are indeed wiser than Daniel;

no secret is hidden from you;

Tag: Leadership Must Use Wisdom Wisely

Wisdom comes from the Fear of the Lord (Proverbs 9:10).  Without the Fear of the Lord there can be no wisdom.   Since this is a truth we can’t ignore, we must read in the above passage in light of that truth.  It states that the Prince of Tyre not only had wisdom, but his wisdom exceeded Daniel.   It could be the Ezekiel is simply speaking of human wisdom.   But, as the chapter unfolds we are lead to believe that the Prince of Tyre indeed HAD wisdom from God.  The point of the entire chapter is that he is being held responsible for what he did with this wisdom. God had given him wisdom and he had abused it and used it for his own glory and power. He used it to secure wealth and honor for himself.  He did not honor God with the gift he was given. If, indeed, Ezekiel is speaking of merely human wisdom and he is being sarcastic in regard to the comparison with Daniel, it matters little.  The point of the passage is that this leader had a gift of wisdom (Godly or from man) and used the gift God gave him in pride and arrogance to promote self.   Read a few of the verses that follow:

Ezekiel 28:12

“Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God:

“You were the signet of perfection,

full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

Ezekiel 28:17

Your heart was proud because of your beauty;

you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.

I cast you to the ground;

I exposed you before kings,

to feast their eyes on you.

When we are given a gift from God (wisdom or any other gift) we have an obligation to honor God with the gift.  

Tag: Faithful Diligence is Blessed by God - Proverbs 10

Proverbs 10:3-5

The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry,

but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.

A slack hand causes poverty,

but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

He who gathers in summer is a prudent son,

but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.

Tag:  Faithful Diligence is Blessed by God

The theme of Proverbs is the contrast between Lady Wisdom (Christ personified) and the Adulterous Folly (Sin personified).   Those who pursue Wisdom (Christ) are made righteous (a New Testament teaching but certainly carried in thought throughout Proverbs).  Those who pursue Folly (sin) will end up in destruction.  That is the them of the entire book of Proverbs and, more specifically, the above three proverbs from chapter ten.   Those who pursue Wisdom will be diligent.  Those who pursue Folly will be slothful.   Chapter ten, in particular, seems to highlight the blessing on those who, by faith, pursue wisdom, which in-turn produced a spirit of diligence.   That diligence, mixed with wisdom, causes the righteous to make better decisions.  Those better decisions result in better choices.    Better choices do not always produce health, wealth and prosperity (just ask Job).   But, better choices based upon pursuit of righteous put us in a place where we are not searching for health, wealth and prosperity.  We are simply pursuing Christ likeness.  Christ suffered and had little in this world that would make Him attractive to this world.  He died for us, but alone.   We don’t have, in this world, the same emphasis.   We tend to want to grab what we can before we die.   Accumulate is a real pursuit in this world.   In the above proverbs we see that the “accumulation” of the wicked will never be satisfied.  God will not allow their cravings to be “satisfied” Those who pursue Christ (Wisdom) will be satisfied with whatever God delivers to them.  

Tag: Leaders are Promoted and Demoted by God - Psalm 81-83

Psalms 82:6-7

I said, “You are gods,

sons of the Most High, all of you;

nevertheless, like men you shall die,

and fall like any prince.”

Tag:  Leaders are Promoted and Demoted by God

Psalm 82 was written by Asaph.  He was a royal member of the court and leadership team under the reign of Solomon.   He was a song writer and a poet.  He was a writer of many of the Psalms ... song and poems for worship.  In Psalm 82 we read his philosophy of leadership.   Note what he says about leaders:

1. They are “gods.”    Don’t let it go to your head.   Asaph is NOT saying that leaders are deity.  He is saying they carry a sense of authority.   Note Romans 13 for a similar thoughts process in regard to the authority of leadership.   

2. They are “sons of the Most High.”   This speaks to the fact that leaders are born by God ... He gives them life and all their authority (see again Romans 13).  Leaders are “born” ... by God.  They are made by God and have an obligation but this idea to act and lead as God would lead (that is the essence of Psalm 82).  

3. They are “men.”   Leaders have to remember they are not God and that the “humanness” will keep them humble and level.  They are not to think of themselves more highly than they ought to think.  They owe all to God for their position of authority and must remember they are but dust.  

4. They shall “all die.”   Like any other human, leaders have limited capacity and limited life.  It would be wise to think of Nebuchadnezzar here.   He thought he was a “god” but with a capital “G.”   God showed him his limits and eventually brought him to death.  The same is true of Pharaoh, the King’s of Babylon, Assyria, etc.   All thought they had unlimited capacity and supreme life.  They all die just like all men.  

Leaders over estimate themselves when they do not submit to the authority and sovereignty of God.   He puts up on and puts down another:

Psalms 75:6-7

For not from the east or from the west

and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,

but it is God who executes judgment,

putting down one and lifting up another.

Again, words of Asaph ... part of Solomon’s leadership team.  

Tag: Know your Passion - 2 Kings 6-10

2 Kings 10:16-17

And he said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.” So he had him ride in his chariot. And when he came to Samaria, he struck down all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had wiped them out, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke to Elijah.

Tag:  Passion Needs to Mirror Prophecy

We have a lot of talk in the business world and in life about making sure we “find our passion” for life.  We are supposed to, according to the wisdom of this word, pursue, grows and be motivated by a passion for something.   This is a truth, actually taught in God’s Word.  The question is not whether we are to pursue a passion, but rather, how do we identify the passion we are to pursue.  Note the Apostle Paul’s passion:

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Paul’s passion was focused on being conformed to the image of Christ:

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Our passion is identified by what is “good and acceptable and perfect” - which is the Word of God.  

Note now the words of Jehu in regard to his own “zeal” (passion) for God.  He was guided, not by his personal desires (what pleases him ... the world’s measure of wisdom).  He was guided by fulfilling the Words of the prophet Elijah ... who spoke the Word of God.   Jehu found his purpose: To fulfill prophecy.   The world wants us to fulfill our “pleasures” and then call it our “purpose.”   God wants us, like Paul and King Jehu, to fulfill a purpose that is grounded and identified by the Word of God.  Note what the writer R.C. Sproul is stated as saying:

“We want peace but not the Prince of Peace. We want purpose but not the sovereign purposes decreed by God. We want meaning found in ourselves but not in his rule over us. We see desperate people, and we assume they are seeking for God, but they are not seeking for God. I know that because God says so. No one seeks after God.”

Excerpt From

Romans

R. C. Sproul

We are to pursue a purpose for life that is aligned with the prophecy of God.  

Tag: The Joy of Freedom - Leviticus 13-15

Leviticus 14:7

And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird go into the open field.

Tag:  Their is Freedom When We Are Pronounced “Clean” 

In the chapters of Leviticus 10-15 we have various laws about being clean.  There are a various types of uncleanness mentioned.  Any thing from a man’s accidental semen discharge at night to a woman’s menstrual cycle to a leprous person.   God is super concerned about teaching the nation about what is clean and what is unclean.  You can’t read these chapters without viewing all the teaching via this lens:

Leviticus 15:31

“Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.”

God is holy and He lives among them via the glory in the Tabernacle.   God’s presence changes the community.   As a result, God demands holiness.  His people are to stay away from uncleanliness.   In the above passage we see that a man, who was leprous, was moved outside the camp (that is where all uncleanliness was to be sent ... away from God).   When he is pronounced “clean” by the priest, the priest takes a bird that was previously dipped in holy water from the Tabernacle.    This is a preparation BEFORE the priest goes outside the camp. It is in anticipation of the man, outside the camp, possibly being clean.  When it is discovered he is clean, the priest sets the bird free.   This is the glory of being pronounced clean.  The best part is that those still in the city would have visible evidence that the person is pronounced clean.  The bird flying to freedom was evidence to the man and the watching world that he was clean.  What rejoicing must have been in the man’s heart.  He could have been outside the camp permanently, always identifying himself as “unclean.”  Instead the man is pronounced “clean” and the bird, held in captivity for just this time, is set free.  Freedom of sin; freedom from guilt; freedom from being confined by a disease that was not your fault is a reason to rejoice.  This is what we have in Christ.  We are free from guilt and shame.  We can rejoice ... we are like the bird set free.  

Tag: Unity is Important to Christ - Philippians 3-4

Philippians 4:2-3

I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Tag: Unity is important to the cross of Christ!!

Earlier in this little letter Paul stated the following:

Philippians 2:2

complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Those words were written by Paul in the “doctrinal” portion of the letter.  In these “epistles” of Paul his style was simple.  The first half of the book would be doctrinal in nature and the second half of the book would be practical in nature.   Philippians is no exception.  Paul has told them that their joy comes from being “in Christ” and that joy is completed as they demonstrate the unity Christ prayed for before His death, burial and resurrection:

John 17:23

I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Our “oneness” in Christ and with each other is to be demonstrated in how we treat each other.   These two sisters “in Christ” (Euodia and Syntyche) were not “in agreement.”   They were not “one” with Christ.  Their walk was not matching their talk.   We have no idea were that came from but God is using the Apostle to correct their behavior.   There are three areas he uses to “motivate” them to come to agreement:

1).  Paul instructions both of these sisters in Christ (“urges” them) to “live in harmony.”   This is not an option for them to consider.   Paul is the Apostle and he has called them out in front of the entire church.   Paul does not want them to bring shame on Christ or the body.  This is not right in the Body of Christ.   He is speaking with a sense of urgency and  authority.   Perhaps this is a key to the local church community; authority with urgency over hypocrisy.  

2). Paul stresses that someone must “help” them come to agreement.   We are not sure who this is, but we know the individual’s mission.  They are to “help” these two to see their error.  The word “help” is:

συλλαμβάνω syllambanō; to clasp, i.e. seize (arrest, capture); specially, to conceive (literally or figuratively); by implication, to aid: — catch, conceive, help, take.

This word is used in a variety of ways in the N.T.  Only here by Paul.   It carries the message of someone bringing them together.  This help is to seize them and bring them into agreement ... in the Lord.   It would be fair to believe that they both will lose something of their own agendas.   

3). Paul reminds both he individual who is to help, the two ladies and the entire church that these two were and are part of the body.  These two, as well as others, have come along side and done great work in the Body of Christ.  Their names are written in the Book of Life.   Paul is demonstrating that they are NOT, as a result of their behavior in jeopardy of losing their salvation.  But, they are to come together for the sake of the Gospel and that is to restore them to the work they have done in the past.  

When we have division in the body, we see the natural instincts of our human nature.   But, we have a new nature that should bring us together and help us come together as believers of Christ.