Finish the Race and Complete the Task

Acts 20:22-24: And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

Is that our focus as believers? Are we concerned only with finishing the race and completing the task that Jesus has given us? We know that in this world we are going to have trouble. Jesus assured us of this just as the Holy Spirit warned Paul. But we can rejoice! The work that is being done is that of helping people make the transition from eternal damnation to eternal life with God. And in this, we are compelled to rejoice, understanding that the hardship that’s associated with it is nothing compared to what is to come both for us and for those who believe. So I want to encourage us to focus on fulfilling our calling. Let’s do what the Lord has uniquely designed each of us to do.

God bless you as you pursue God, pursue your calling, and as people are drawn to Christ when you lift Him up and share the good news of God’s amazing grace.

Hebrews 12:1-3: Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us. Keep your eyes on Jesus, our leader and instructor. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterwards; and now he sits in the place of honor by the throne of God.

Stay Focused

2 Corinthians 3:17&18 - The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Lord’s Spirit is, there is freedom. All of us are looking with unveiled faces at the glory of the Lord as if we were looking in a mirror. We are being transformed into that same image from one degree of glory to the next degree of glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

It’s like looking in a mirror. When we look to Jesus, we begin to reflect Him. That’s awesome! Stay focused.

God is True and Faithful

Numbers 23:19 - God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Why do we waiver between two opinions? Is God not reliable…true…honest…faithful? He is! He is the only One we can depend on to always be reliable, true, honest, and faithful. This is who our God is! Our “baggage” may hider our ability to fully trust Him but we can make a conscious decision to resist those old messages, and to rely on God as He has revealed Himself. It takes courage but He is perfectly worth it and He gives us the strength and ability to do so. He deserves our trust and faith. And we are blessed as we rely on Him for all that we need in this life.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5&6)

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:3)

Giving Thanks

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union. – Abraham Lincoln, 1863, excerpt from his “Thanksgiving Proclamation”

Abraham Lincoln wrote the Thanksgiving Proclamation while the U.S. colonies were engaged in the Civil war. In ancient times, King David wrote the following “Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.” (Psalm 95:2-7a)

In the United States we will celebrate Thanksgiving on November 27. May we also, like Lincoln and David encouraged, actually be thankful and give thanks to God not only for the marvelous things He has done but just for who He is – the sovereign God. May we pray for those in peril and never forget His great mercy.

Sing Praises!

God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. (Psalm 47:5-7)




Regarding this passage, Matthew Henry notes: We are here most earnestly pressed to praise God, and to sing his praises; so backward are we to this duty that we have need to be urged to it by precept upon precept, and line upon line; so we are here: Sing praises to God, and again, Sing praises, Sing praises to our King, and again, Sing praises. This intimates that it is a very necessary and excellent duty, that it is a duty we ought to be frequent and abundant in; we may sing praises again and again in the same words, and it is no vain repetition if it be done with new affections. Should not a people praise their God? Dan. 5:4 . Should not subjects praise their king? God is our God, our King, and therefore we must praise him; we must sing his praises, as those that are pleased with them and that are not ashamed of them. But here is a needful rule subjoined: Sing you praises with understanding, with Maschil. 1. "Intelligently; as those that do yourselves understand why and for what reasons you praise God and what is the meaning of the service.’’ This is the gospel-rule (1 Co. 14:15 ), to sing with the spirit and with the understanding also; it is only with the heart that we make melody to the Lord, Eph. 5:19 . It is not an acceptable service if it be not a reasonable service. 2. "Instructively, as those that desire to make others understand God’s glorious perfections, and to teach them to praise him.’’

Humilty is Trusting God

In scripture, humility means “to have a humble opinion of one’s self; a deep sense of one’s (moral) littleness, modesty or lowliness of mind.” Webster says humility is “freedom from pride and arrogance; the act of submission.” To be truly humble means we believe, trust, and obey God’s Word over what we think, feel, or desire.

I will remove all proud and arrogant people from among you. …Those who are left will be the lowly and humble, for it is they who trust in the name of the Lord. (Zephaniah 3:11-12NLT)

Faith and trust are one and the same. Faith is trusting God. Everything-I mean everything-we receive from God comes through faith. Because of His incomprehensible love, He sent Jesus to die in our place and pay for our sins so that we could be restored to a right relationship with Him forever. That’s the Gospel in a nutshell-John 3:16. But in order to receive this priceless gift, we must believe what He says in His Word is true. That’s trust. It all boils down to trust.

To trust is to “place confidence in; to rely or rest the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice friendship, or sound principle of another person.” When we trust God, we take Him at His Word. Synonyms for trust include have faith in, believe, rely on, depend on, expect, hope, count on, and be sure about.

- John Bevere

Excerpts from Relentless

Never Forget

Our God is so precious. We should never forget to praise Him.

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:1-5)

HOPE

Romans 15:13 - May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Faith and Good Deeds

James 2:14-26 (TLB)

Dear brothers, what’s the use of saying that you have faith and are Christians if you aren’t proving it by helping others? Will that kind of faith save anyone? If you have a friend who is in need of food and clothing, and you say to him, “Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat hearty,” and then don’t give him clothes or food, what good does that do? So you see, it isn’t enough just to have faith. You must also do good to prove that you have it. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good works is no faith at all—it is dead and useless. But someone may well argue, “You say the way to God is by faith alone, plus nothing; well, I say that good works are important too, for without good works you can’t prove whether you have faith or not; but anyone can see that I have faith by the way I act.” Are there still some among you who hold that “only believing” is enough? Believing in one God? Well, remember that the demons believe this too—so strongly that they tremble in terror! Fool! When will you ever learn that “believing” is useless without doing what God wants you to? Faith that does not result in good deeds is not real faith. Don’t you remember that even our father Abraham was declared good because of what he did when he was willing to obey God, even if it meant offering his son Isaac to die on the altar? You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to; his faith was made complete by what he did—by his actions, his good deeds. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say, that Abraham trusted God, and the Lord declared him good in God’s sight, and he was even called “the friend of God.” So you see, a man is saved by what he does, as well as by what he believes. Rahab, the prostitute, is another example of this. She was saved because of what she did when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. Just as the body is dead when there is no spirit in it, so faith is dead if it is not the kind that results in good deeds.

Reflections on Friendship

Just thinking today about how precious the relationships are that our Father brings into our lives – relationships He ordains for our growth in Him. Someone to be by our side. Someone who will hold us accountable to living a God-honoring life and fulfilling our calling. Someone who will be a confidant. Someone with whom we can share a loving, uplifting relationship. Someone with whom we can be honest and transparent. These are relationships to be nurtured and valued.

Proverbs 17:17 - A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 27:17 - Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 - Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

A Simple Prayer

Father, we thank You today for Your grace and mercy, for Your provision, for Your protection, for wisdom, and for Your love. Thank You Father for all that You have planned for us. Thank You for guiding us and inspiring us, for speaking to us and for Your sweet care.

Father we lift up to You all those who do not know Your Son as Savior. We pray Father that they will learn of your unfailing love for them and come into a saving knowledge of Jesus the Christ. And Father, for those who are in intimate relationship with You, may we honor You with our conduct. May we submit ourselves to Your will. And may we love others as You have loved us – sacrificially and restoratively.

We praise You Father because You are worthy of praise! You are awesome.

With love and honor,

Your children

Another Sweet Word of Encouragement

Let heaven fill your thoughts; don’t spend your time worrying about things down here. You should have as little desire for this world as a dead person does. Your real life is in heaven with Christ and God. And when Christ who is our real life comes back again, you will shine with him and share in all his glories. (Colossians 3:2-4)

A Powerful and Effective Faith

On Friday we looked specifically at the faith of Paul. Today let’s expand our view just a bit…

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:3-16)

The Immediate Obedience of Paul

Acts 16:9&10 – During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

There is much to be learned in this chapter but we will focus solely on these two verses. Paul was visited in a dream. It is understood that this was an angel and theologians believe that either by the man’s habits or dialect or because he said so, Paul believed he was a man from Macedonia. Even that is not today’s focus.

Today’s focus is on Paul’s trust and immediate obedience. Not a trust and obedience to Macedonian apparitions but of his God. Paul, and those with him, concluded that God had called them to preach the gospel to the Macedonians and they, without hesitation, got on the road.

Am I the only one who has hesitated, wondering if I was really hearing from God? Wondering if I heard right? Wondering if now was the time? Maybe trying to understand the logic behind the call? Examples like this, of an unwavering and bold faith, are great for us to see. We’ve read in the scriptures of those who have questioned God or straight-out disobeyed, but Paul serves as an example of what the scriptures encourage.

Prov 3:5&6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Psalm 119:165  - Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.

Romans 12:11 - Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

We have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, directing us, helping us, revealing the truth to us. We have this advantage and can move forward as we “feel” led. We cannot allow ourselves to be stuck in fear, but we must trust and obey God. Listen and move. We immerse ourselves in the Word in order to help understand the nature of God and to learn His law. We allow ourselves to be led by the indwelling Holy Spirit, we remain open to hear His direction, and we follow God’s call on our lives. Because the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7)

May we eagerly seek the Lord, His will, and His ways, and then follow His call.

God's Presence

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6)

These are the words of Moses. The author of the book of Hebrews also made reference to them. (see chapter 13, verse 5)

To know that our God will neither leave nor forsake us is a beautiful thing. As the children of Israel were very close to possessing the promised land of Canaan, these were the words the Lord had for them. But because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, these words are for us as well. He has not changed. As the children of God, we can be strong...have courage…be fearless. God is with us. He will never leave us. He will never forsake us.

The precious promise that our Father will never leave us means that He will never fail us, He is never slack or weak when it comes to all He says He will do. And He is never inactive in the life of the believer. This is very important to understand especially in times of challenge. As we see in the story of Job, although Job was under extreme persecution by the enemy, God was still in control and active in Job’s life – the enemy was not able to do anything that the Lord did not permit.  God has promised to be with us always.

The precious promise that our Father will never forsake us means that He will never relinquish control in our life story – His calling and those wonderful plans He has to prosper us and give us a future and a hope. He will never leave us destitute. He will never abandon us or loosen His hold on us.

The love of God is the impetus for these dear promises we see in His word – repeated, by the way, many times and in many ways. Having God present with us means that we get to experience the fullness of His revelation to us. All that the Lord wants us to experience, to understand, to express – is available to us as we walk in relationship with Him. And while we will not experience the true fullness of God until we are face to face with Him, the ways in which He reveals Himself to us on the earth, are quite amazing. He is awesome and it is humbling to understand that the sovereign Lord of the universe desires a loving relationship with each and every one of us. And even further, when we come into that relationship, He commits to be with us always and to never turn His back on us and leave us to fend for ourselves.

That’s beautiful.

Romans 8:38-39 - For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psalm 139:7-10 - Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

Matthew 1:23 - “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Jeremiah 15:20 - And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord.

John 14:23 - Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

Isaiah 57:15 - For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Verse of the Day

This was Verse of the Day on one of my favorite sites. I had to share it!

God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’

Job 37:5-6

Welcome Venezuela!!!!

Simply Christian Teaching is so excited to welcome blog readers in Venezuela!!! Please know that I pray for every reader on a nightly basis. My prayer is that you will have a wonderful time reading these Bible meditations and that you will grow in your relationship with the Lord. Or, if you do not yet have a relationship with Him, that this blog will spark your interest in Him.


If you have any questions, feel free to comment on the posts or email me directly. And if you like, you may also follow us on Facebook at Simply Christian. You can also see some brief teaching videos on our YouTube channel at Simply Christian YouTube. And if you find any of this to be useful, share it with your friends too! :-)


God bless you dear ones!!!

Grace

God’s grace is beautiful and wonderful. If it were not for God’s grace, we would be without hope. I believe that God’s grace, however, is best appreciated in the context of understanding the God Who is revealed to us through the Old Testament.

He is the Creator of the universe. He is perfect and holy. He is the Giver of life. He has righteous requirements (as seen in the 10 commands): He, alone, expects to be our God, we are not to worship anyone besides Him or to flippantly speak His name, we are to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy, we are to honor our father and mother, to not be murderers or adulterous, and we are not to steal, to testify falsely, or to covet what our neighbor possesses. He judges the actions of mankind. He flooded the earth because of the corrupted hearts of man (saving only 8 persons)! We clearly see throughout the Old Testament that God is a God of justice and especially when we read the accounts of the prophets, we see that God means what He says, says what He means, and will accomplish what He declares.

Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus Christ (Who is God) is the same yesterday and today and forever. This means that the same God who desired obedience from His children and who exacted judgment on those who were rebellious has not changed; He is still the same God. However, we are in a period of time that is referred to as the Church Age or the Dispensation of Grace. This is a time where the children of God are being allowed to grow in godliness. The Holy Spirit Who lives within can flourish and help us to grow in sanctification unto God. And the most significant thing about God’s dispensation of grace is the forgiveness of sins that is offered to us through Jesus’ death on the cross. We have the benefit of living in an age that is post-Pentecost and will end at Jesus’ return. And because of God’s grace and desire that no one should perish, He is giving all of mankind and “grace period” so to speak, to understand the truth and come to Him.

We currently live in an atmosphere of God’s unwarranted favor. The words of Christ, recorded in John 10:10: The thief’s [satan’s] purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life [a spiritual vitality] in all its fullness. The righteous and holy God that we serve, does not desire our ruin; He desires a fullness of life for us. Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Further on in Romans, we also learn that sin pays off with death. But God’s gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23 CEV) This is God’s wonderful grace!

The question has been asked many times “If it wasn’t for God’s grace, where would I be?” I shudder to think of the answer.

Praise God for His grace. Don’t take it for granted. And may you be the blessed recipient of all that He desires for you, by His grace.

Thoughts on Our Free Will Which (at times) Seems to Contradict God’s Perfect Design

“How did the Dark Power go wrong? Here, no doubt, we ask a question to which human beings cannot give an answer with any certainty. A reasonable (and traditional) guess, based on our own experiences of going wrong, can, however, be offered. The moment you have a self at all, there is a possibility of putting yourself first-wanting to be the centre-wanting to be God, in fact. That was the sin of Satan: and that was the sin he taught the human race. Some people think the fall of man had something to do with sex, but that is a mistake. (The story in the Book of Genesis rather suggests that some corruption in our sexual nature followed the fall and was its result, not its cause.) What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like gods’-could set up on their own as if they had created themselves-be their own masters-invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history – money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery – the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.

The reason why it can never succeed is this. God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, of the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”

- C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)

Note: C.S. Lewis was not a theologian. He was a man of intellect, a Christian, a Christian writer, a Fellow and Tutor in English literature at Oxford University, and arguably, was most well-known for writing The Chronicles of Narnia and Mere Christianity. Simply Christian is not endorsing the details of Mr. Lewis’ perspective, but presenting an interesting perspective regarding this matter.

Jesus' Last Name?

Christ.

Christ is not Jesus’ last name. It may be confusing because we often see and hear Him referred to as Jesus Christ. It may be better understood (in English) as Jesus the Christ. Christ is an epithet of Jesus that means Messiah. Christ is the English version of the Greek word christos. The equivalent Hebrew term is messias, which in English, is Messiah. Both Christ and Messiah mean anointed or anointed one.  Jesus is the consecrated (set apart), anointed One. He is the Messiah.

Just some basic information we need to understand.

Just a Word of Love

Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs. (Proverbs 10:12)

Just a Word of Encouragement

But this precious treasure—this light and power that now shine within us—is held in a perishable container, that is, in our weak bodies. Everyone can see that the glorious power within must be from God and is not our own. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed and broken. We are perplexed because we don’t know why things happen as they do, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.  (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)

Amen!!!

The Resolve of the Called

Jeremiah 26:7-15 - So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. Now it happened, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You will surely die! Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without an inhabitant’?” And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and sat down in the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house.  And the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and all the people, saying, “This man deserves to die! For he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.” Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people, saying: “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city with all the words that you have heard. Now therefore, amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; then the Lord will relent concerning the doom that He has pronounced against you. As for me, here I am, in your hand; do with me as seems good and proper to you.  But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants; for truly the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

Jeremiah, a prophet, faithfully spoke the words that the Lord gave to him. And in this instance, the people, the priests, the prophets, and the princes all were determined that Jeremiah should die. They were not happy with what Jeremiah had to say. But Jeremiah’s response was “Do what you want but should you take my life, know that innocent blood will be on your hands.” He was resolved to deliver the word of the Lord and when challenged, he would not back down.

In North America, it is not common to be threatened with death for speaking God’s truth. In some other countries, this is more common place. But if you, like me, live in an environment of relative religious freedom, sometimes a laissez-faire attitude can develop. We can lack an urgency and a firm resolve to stand for the truth, to speak the truth, and to share the truth. Without challenge, our faith can be weak. My prayer, both for me and for you, is that we would stand firm on the truth, that we would freely and joyfully speak the truth, and that our hearts would love our neighbors enough to share the life-giving truth with them, and like Paul, that we would resolve “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is God’s powerful method of bringing all who believe it to heaven. This message was preached first to the Jews alone, but now everyone is invited to come to God in this same way.” (Romans 1:16)

Care For Your Pastor

1 Timothy 5:17&18 - The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.  For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.”

Paul’s words to Timothy (a faithful servant and pastor) were instructing Timothy on how the pastors in the church were to be regarded. They were worthy of double honor, they were not to be limited as they did their work, but to be provided for. This analogy would not have been lost on the believers of Paul and Timothy’s time. It would have been a very clear picture. The idea of muzzling an ox while treading out the grain was that the ox, if not muzzled, would be allowed to eat while working - but if given food in this way, would work even more. Another way to see it is that the more they were provided for, the more they were able to work.

The pastors of that time and today, are to be honored. They are to be cared for. Our pastors are in the unique position of ministering to others but not (typically) being ministered to. And as we saw a couple of days ago, to whom much is given, much more is required. Our pastors have been given the charge of caring for the people who are under their teaching – to teach accurately and to lead the people in righteousness. Further, we see some very clear requirements for pastors: 1. A pastor must be devoted to his wife; one-woman man (Titus 1:6; 1 Tim 3:2). A pastor must love his wife exclusively with his mind, will and emotions and not just his body. 2. A pastor’s children must be in submission, though not perfect (Titus 1:6; 1 Tim 3:4-5). 3. A pastor is a faithful steward (Titus 1:7) He is a steward, a manager of God’s resources and Jesus’ flock. He takes responsibility, but not ownership. 4. A pastor must be humble - not arrogant (Titus 1:7) 5. A pastor must be gentle - not quick-tempered (Titus 1:7; 1 Tim 3:3) 6. A pastor must be sober - not a drunkard (Titus 1:7; 1 Tim 3:3) This is not just overindulgence in alcohol but is idiomatic for any behavior that fuels addictive responses. 7. A pastor must be peaceful - not violent (Titus 1:7; 1 Tim 3:3) A pastor is prone to inflict violence through his words. He is to be a peacemaker. 8. A pastor must have financial integrity - not greedy for gain (Titus 1:7; 1 Tim 3:3; 1 Peter 5:3) 9. A pastor must be hospitable (Titus 1:8; 1 Tim 3:2) 10. A pastor must be a lover of good (Titus 1:8) 11. A pastor must be self-controlled (Titus 1:8; 1 Tim 3:2) 12. A pastor must be upright (Titus 1:8) 13. A pastor must be holy (Titus 1:8) 14. A pastor must be able to teach (Titus 1:9; 1 Tim 3:2)  15. A pastor must be spiritually mature (1 Tim 3:6) 16. A pastor must be respectable (1 Tim 3:7) 17. A pastor must be an example to the flock (1 Peter 5:3)¹

Because of all that is required of pastors – all that is given to them – much is required of them and they are to be honored. I’d like to encourage us all to pray for our pastors. They face so much in their own personal lives but also need to minister to their congregants. It’s a heavy charge. And don’t forget your pastor’s spouse! Cook a meal for your pastor’s family. Maybe you could offer to watch the children one evening so that they may have a “date night”. Care for your pastor. They are charged with the responsibility of caring for our souls, they deserve honor.

 

1. http://www.acts29network.org/acts-29-blog/biblical-qualifications-of-a-pastor/