Luke 12:41-48 was the section I read for my devotions this morning and there are several key points I want to pass on to you. These verses are in answer to Peter’s question regarding Jesus’ words in verses 35 to 40; a blessed servant is always ready for his master to return. “The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (40).
Before looking at the consequences of not being ready for the Master to come, we need to realize that Jesus is speaking about “servants,” whether or not they knew their Master was coming or not. Jesus begins with “the faithful and wise manager.” The servant has been given responsibilities to oversee the master’s household while He is away, mainly to feed those in the household. If this servant is faithful in his duties, he will be “blessed” and the Master “will set him over all His possessions” (12:44; see also chapter 16:10). Where there is faithfulness in a little, God will enlarge the responsibility and trust. Then we see that the opposite is true. In fact, the servant who is “unfaithful…will receive a severe beating” (12:47). One important principle we must take from this section is that no matter how large or small our responsibility is, we are all accountable to the Lord our Master. He is the reason for being faithful. We may wonder why He gave us a specific area of responsibility, but there is always a purpose behind it which we may never understand. Be faithful anyway! The more we are faithful inss every detail of our responsibilities, the more we will see fruit resulting from our labors.
0 Comments
Where do we turn when it seems that nothing is going well, and our lives appear to be in constant turmoil, confusion and disappointment. Our natural tendency is to attempt to resolve problems ourselves or call on someone else to resolve them for us. We often forget the best resource and place for help, comfort and solutions.
Psalm 130 begins with this; “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!” (130:1–2). Sometimes these feelings of despair come from our own failures and weakness. Often they come from conditions around us and we ares powerless to make any change. Jeremiah was made by God to carry the burden of a rebellious people who did not understand their sin against God. In his lament, Jeremiah says; “Their heart cried to the Lord. O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears stream down like a torrent day and night! Give yourself no rest, your eyes no respite! “Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord”” (Lamentations 2:18–19). Paul shed many tears for the Early Church (Acts 20:19). He felt deeply their condition and what they could not see was coming down the road. Whether it is personal issues or church related, we must lean on the Lord for help and resolution of what we face and may be going through. Because we are Christians, this does not separate us from the effects of sin on the whole creation. Paul makes this clear in Romans 8:22-23.
“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” Notice that even though we have the Spirit in us; sealed with Him who is the earnest of an eternal inheritance, we are not taken out of this world. Why has God left us here in this condition? Our hope in Christ is designed to give us a divine perspective on this sin-cursed world and power that will become a living message pointing others to the Savior. It is only “Christ in you the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27) that can do this. Our challenge is understanding how much He wants His power to work in us (Ephesians 3:15-16). If you allow me, I am calling you to a much higher view of your life here on earth. It is a call to live the gospel of grace in a world where billions of people have never heard the gospel. If you and I live the gospel, it will be easy to proclaim it to those who have never heard it. Having experienced some degree of suffering or trials of various kinds, I often reflect back on my attitude when going through these times and feel a sense of shame. Like most of us, I descend into a spirit of complaining, if not verbally, in my heart and mind. We forget that this attitude affects others around us as well as ourselves. What should happen during these times?
Paul thanked God for the Thessalonians; “because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore, we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring” (2 Thessalonians 1:3–4). Notice what was taking place in them: § Their faith was growing abundantly. § Their love for each other was growing. § There was a steadfastness or endurance about their faith that even suffering, affliction and persecution could not shake. Is this becoming true of you and me? None of us have “arrived” at a perfect state, so there is always room for growth. You may be the only person in your fellowship or community that desires this kind of growth, but I challenge you to make a commitment to grow like the Thessalonians and have a direct impact on others (1 Thessalonians 1:7-10). Please email me at the following address if you accept this challenge; newfoundationsinternational@gmail.com. We wanted to update you on the progress of gathering materials for the Johnston County, NC Spanish Outreach. This will include 1,200 Spanish Tracts, and 1,200 God's Plan for His Disciples (GPHD) books in Spanish which we have on hand. We are praying for the same number of Spanish New Testament Bibles with Psalms and Proverbs, and so far, we have 200. We hope to have the balance of the Bibles soon.
Just to give a little background to this project, we had printed 1,500 copies near the end of last year with the hope of getting what was not needed in the USA down to Nicaragua. COVID-19 hindered our traveling and taking these books to where they were needed. God then moved in several hearts to think about the needs of the Spanish population here in America. This project has been sponsored by Lighthouse Baptist Church, Benson, NC. Pray that the Lord will lead this material to areas where there will be non-Christians at flea markets, migrant camps, etc. We are certain that Spanish Churches will know where and how to distribute these packets. Please be in prayer for those who will receive these packets. We know that God watches over these little details and also knows who will be given a Bible, tract and GPHD. We naturally have a tendency to become anxious about what to say before others when suddenly confronted with a demand to explain our faith. Peter helps us with this; “in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).
The truth is that most of us feel very unprepared for an on-the-spot testimony. There are two things that contribute to this condition. 1) We are weak in living out our faith on a daily basis. 2) We have not consistently learned to rely on the Holy Spirit for what to say, especially for moments like this. Jesus helps us to have the correct mindset when we are called upon to be a witness before any in this world, we must not rely on ourselves which brings anxiety, but on the Holy Spirit who “will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say” (Lk. 12:12). Think for a moment of the immense value of having a divine person always at your disposal to give on-the-spot teaching so we are able to give the kind of response that will both be a powerful witness and rightly represent the Lord Jesus. Let us learn to rely on this resource consistently so when the need arises, we will be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks” of our hope. This seems like a strange idea to many. When Paul and Barnabas went from Derbe to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, “they…preached the gospel…made many disciples” and then returned to these same cities “strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
This is part of the discipling process. As Paul concludes his teaching to Timothy, he reminds him that “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). Why is this point in discipling so important? It was certainly part of Jesus’ teaching of the disciples. “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18–19). This is the reason persecution is part of life for any who follow Jesus Christ. If we tell new believers that in accepting Jesus as Savior, they will have a wonderful life of prosperity and freedom from problems, we lead them into a false concept of what it means to be a Christian. We cannot expect any different treatment than our Savior received, and this must be the expectation and taught to every believer. Date posted: 11/ /20 We usually do not think of grace as a teacher, but that is what Paul tells us. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11–13).
There is a challenge that goes along with this truth. We must be willing to receive the grace of God in order to be taught by it. As Hebrews 12:15 points out, it is possible that we refuse the grace God is seeking to give us to meet the need of a particular situation. “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled” (Hebrews 12:15). Notice what happens when we refuse to receive God’s grace. The writer took this quote, ““root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble” from Deuteronomy 29:18-19; “Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’” If we turn away the grace of God, it is as if we turned away from God and is like a “poisonous and bitter fruit” because of “the stubbornness of my heart.” I hope this will motivate us to be more careful and sensitive to what God is giving us, and why. This grace will not be like any worldly help we seek or any human means of resolving problems. It will cut across our natural desire and fleshly tendency. Trust His grace, learn from His grace, and implement His grace. Paul recognized God’s working in others was what led them into effective ministry. When we ready his letters to Timothy and Titus, we see that this was his goal. Paul had been very effective in developing a receptive heart in Timothy and Titus so they would receive divine instruction.
“But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. For he not only accepted our appeal but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord” (2 Corinthians 8:16–17). The reason why it was “the same earnest care” Paul had for the saints at Corinth is because it was the same God who worked in both Paul and Timothy even though Paul was Timothy’s mentor. We must accept the principle that if we are going to be effective in discipling others at any level of maturity and leadership, we first must want God to thoroughly teach us the principles we are going to teach others. We can never expect disciples we train to be any better than what we have allow the Spirit to form in us. BE A LEARNER AND YOU WILL TEACH OTHERS TO LEARN. This will make you more effective as a teacher and you will have the joy of seeing others learn well. Yesterday we were challenged with continually reminding ourselves that whatever good we accomplish is by the grace of God. This was Paul’s attitude and he is certainly a model for us.
There is another aspect of this grace that we must be reminded of lest we allow pride to distort our hearts and minds. While we must always defer any success to the marvel of God’s grace, we must put all our energy into doing the will of God. Peter says, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness…for this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge” (2 Peter 1:3,5). In the same way, Paul admonishes us to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). Though Paul expresses the same concept in the reverse order as Peter, the idea is identical. We cannot accomplish anything without God first working in us to do His will and pleasure. Two very important goals are achieved through this process; God’s will and glory are achieved, and He increases our attitude of dependence on Him. These objectives are from the Spirit as they are both made to work in us. |
Archives
December 2023
Link To Our Old Blog:
|